Chapter 9: Reaped Again for the Quell
"On the 100th anniversary, as a reminder that even the strongest cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the tributes are to be Reaped from their existing pool of Victors!"
That was the 4th Quarter Quell twist that sent me and Haymitch back into the arena. With only two living Victors out of three total, District 12 barely fulfills the twist.
In the privacy of my holding cell in the Justice Building, I say goodbye to Mother, Prim, Leven and my nephew. After they leave, there is quiet. I want someone else to visit me, but he might not be able to -
The door opens, and in he steps. My heart beats faster when he closes the door behind him. He is dressed in his Peacekeeper uniform, yet he must not need to escort me to the train yet.
I have to smirk, "Not on duty?"
Darius doesn't answer. He merely takes my hand in his, and as we've done every year, he gives it a squeeze. "I'm sorry, Katniss. You have to win. You can win again!"
I look up into the face of this man whom I have come to love. I want to come back to him, but in an arena full of my old colleagues and Haymitch, many of which will be a lot younger than my 42 years, I don't know if I will be able to.
Is it just my imagination, or do I hear footsteps approaching? The five minutes can't be up yet... I shake my head to clear it, staring Darius dead in the eye, my expression a grim and almost straight-forward one.
"I'm not coming back this time. Kiss me," I order.
Darius hesitates for a moment, and then takes me in his arms. My Seam-grey eyes grow heavy as they gaze into his impossibly blue ones, our lips drawing closer. When he sees I have no intention of drawing away, Darius closes the gap between us and kisses me full on the mouth.
My fingers sink into his red curls and I pull him ever closer, kissing him back, my arms wounding lazily around his neck and then splaying across his back as the kiss deepens, becomes more passionate. Darius's hands move through the braid that Mother did up this morning, undoing it so that my brown hair tumbles down my shoulders in waves. Darius's hands then curl around my slim waist.
Meanwhile, Darius's tongue swishes out to tickle my bottom lip, demanding entrance. I acquiesce at the same time as he, as we both part each other's lips, and I slip my tongue into the split, playing with his.
Darius's hands grope lower. I allow him to touch my ass through the fabric of my blue Reaping dress, feeling me up. Seeing as no one has come yet, I begin to feel uncharacteristically bold as I raise my leg to his waist and hitch it around his hips. I press my body closer to his, so that I can feel his member straining through his pants and the folds of my dress. If he wants me, let him take me! I want to have sex with him, no longer die a virgin!
So the Peacekeeper Deputy, reading my consent, throws me down on the cushioned seat and mounts me, the untamed, shrewish, unweddable outlaw. I feel him push my dress almost up over my head, drop my panties down past my thighs and to my ankles. I hear a clatter as the lower half of his uniform falls away. Then -
I feel a bloated conqueror invade my most sacred of spaces and claim it for itself. I gasp at the pain, as I feel the shattering of my hymen at last, deep within the core of my womanhood. Darius pulls out, then thrusts again; with each one, pleasure begins to replace the sting of pain, and soon I am rolling up my hips to meet his as our increasingly sweaty bodies collide.
"Uhhh... Huhhhh... Hmmmmm... UHHHHHH! UHHHHHH!" I gasp and moan between desperate kisses of our lips.
At last, Darius growls and spills himself inside me. He kisses me hard, muffling my wail as I follow.
We break apart, separate and redress ourselves. By the time the lock turns in the door and the Peacekeepers responsible for me have come, Darius and I look as normal as we can be, hiding our disheveled appearance and mad coupling as if nothing had happened.
At the train platform, Darius gives me a final squeeze of the hand, and then, so fast, I almost miss it, never mind have time to give him one in return:
A chaste kiss on the lips.