The next day we don't leave the house at all, to be fair we barely leave our bed. As Peeta explores me with his fingers and mouth I wonder why it has taken us so long to do this. It feels so good. I suppose since puberty I've been busy trying to keep my family alive, then fighting for myself and Peeta, then for the rebellion and then for my own sanity. I really have been missing out I realise as I orgasm for the third time since waking up, Peeta's tongue on my clitoris and his fingers curled inside me.
As we snuggle up together, me still basking in the afterglow of his touch, Peeta's stomach grumbles loudly so we are forced out of bed to go down to the kitchen and eat. He hasn't baked fresh bread this morning, I can't help grinning knowing why, so he cuts up a loaf from yesterday while I light the fire to make toast. Peeta brings out a plate with slices of cheese and ham then goes back to make the tea.
When the fire gets going we take it in turns to toast the pieces of bread on a poker in the fire then quickly put a slice of cheese on top so it melts. There are an odd number of pieces so we toast the last piece together, his hand wrapped around mine on the poker. Our eyes meet and I know the significance of the gesture is not lost on either of us.
After we've eaten we make love again right there, in front of the fire, the light from the flames casting strange shadows on our skin.
Now we have expressed our desire for each other, we can talk about it too. I tell Peeta how I felt in the cave that one time, the strange warmth spreading inside me and what could have happened then if he hadn't stopped me because of my bleeding face. He says he would have stopped me anyway, mindful of the cameras. At that point there was still a chance we could both go home and how could we have returned to our district, or visited any district for that matter, knowing people had watched us be that intimate? I ask him if he felt the same on the beach during the Quarter Quell. He smiles slightly and shakes his head. 'No, I think if Finnick hadn't woken up I couldn't have stopped touching you, whatever the circumstances' he answers honestly. I agree and we hypothesise that that was partly because we were each so desperate to die and save the other, and partly because we were that bit older and physically needier.
I'm fascinated by his cock. Though I have felt it pressed into my back or thigh many mornings when waking up, I have never really seen it properly before. It's long and thick and perfect. He laughs when I compliment him on it, joking that I can't have seen that many. I point out that my mother is a healer and that that there were naked men in my house most days and tell him he should be flattered. He blushes a little but seems pleased. I laugh and tease him that he must know how he measures up to other men or he wouldn't be so comfortable icing such delicate little cakes. He tickles me until I beg for mercy and we go back to bed.
The next day we get woken up by the front door banging. I don't understand for a minute then remember my pact with Greasy Sae. Neither Peeta nor I had been heard from at all yesterday so she has come to feed us, thinking we're having some kind of crisis. I jump up and start hunting for clothes but there is no rush as Haymitch must see her from his window as I hear his voice call out to her. I can't hear their exact words but I hear Sae's tone of voice go from anxious, to puzzled, to amused. I can only surmise that Haymitch has heard us and informed her of the new development in our relationship.
We get dressed and go down to say hello. She is grinning from ear to ear and we are both red with embarrassment but nothing is said and we eat our breakfast gratefully. We thank Sae but tell her we can get our own dinner. To that end I get ready to head out hunting. Peeta kisses me goodbye and goes upstairs to work on his painting some more.
I smile all the way to the woods but I don't really feel like hunting. All I can think about is the feel of Peeta against me, the taste of him in my mouth. I have to stop and touch myself so I can concentrate, imagining his fingers on me instead of my own. I manage to hunt for a bit then, getting two squirrels, but don't linger around to see what else I could get. I rush home, dump my bag and run straight upstairs. Peeta picks me up, pushes me against a wall and we do it just there, like that, in his studio.
After we've regained our composure and clothes he shows me how his painting is going and asks my advice. He talks though his memories of Finnick with me, how he got him off the pedestal at the start of the Quell, resuscitated him after the electric field stopped his heart, and then carried him from the fog. His memories of the star squad later are not so good so we go through 'real or not real' for a while with them. He explains the painting so far. It is Finnick standing on the edge of the sea. I recognise it as the beach in the Quell but Peeta has left out the segments of the clock, the cornucopia and the jungle on the other side. Instead it is just sea and sky in the distance. He's shown Finnick standing tall and proud, trident in one hand, an oyster in the other. What he hasn't started on is the face. He shows me some sketches of possible expressions but he isn't happy with any of them. They are all so very much Finnick though. One is the cocky Finnick we first met before the Quell. One the Finnick after we lost Mags. Another a Finnick from the star squad, determined. But none of these are right. I wish I had a picture from Finnick and Annie's wedding but I don't and I'm not sure who would. I try to describe how Finnick looked that day though, the joy in his eyes, his smile as he looked at Annie. As I spoke, Peeta's hands fly over the page of his sketch book and when I finish describing their joy at his cake he has drawn Finnick just as he was on his wedding day.
'That's perfect' I say, impressed at his skill. Peeta smiles sadly. 'I wish I'd been there' he says quietly. I pull him close to me and whisper 'I wish you had been too'.