Beta-read by gkmoberg1

Break you Hard by Natalia Kills

Kiss the boys and make 'em cry
Make 'em cry, make 'em cry
Don't need your heart 'cause I got mine
I got mine, I got mine

Chapter 11

"Winnow." A voice called to her. Winnow snuggled her head closer to her pillow – licking her lips – keeping her eyes closed firmly. "Little Minnow," the voice came again, accompanied by a hand shaking her shoulder.

"Ughh," Winnow moaned – clinging tight to her pillow as hands tried to pull her away. "Go away," she groaned.

"Someone's coming to see you this morning, Winnow. Better get up and eat before he gets here…" Finnick remarked – shaking her shoulder again.

Winnow lurched up – hair askew and eyes wild. "Who's coming?!" she questioned in a thick voice.

Finnick raised an eyebrow at her from his seat on her bedside. "That got your attention, huh?" he said. Winnow just stared at him – waiting for his answer. "Cato will be coming up to our floor shortly. Go eat some breakfast before he arrives."

Winnow yawned and nodded, sitting up slowly and scooting towards the edge of the bed. "How long will we have?" she asked as she picked up the brush sitting on the bedside table and began to drag it through her long, dark hair.

"A few hours." Finnick answered. "Artemisia wants you in prep for the interviews right after lunch," he explained. Winnow gave a short nod of understanding as she stood up and began to stretch out. Finnick eyed her scantily clad form with a curled lip. "Put some clothes on too." He ordered before heading for the door.

"Okay, Dad." Winnow teased – shooting her mentor a look of amusement paired with a raised eyebrow.

Finnick scrunched up his face, turning to look at her. "Little Minnow, I'm far too young to be called 'dad'," he scoffed. "I prefer to think of myself as the older-brother type," Finnick continued – putting his nose in the air with a sniff.

Winnow chuckled. "Brother? I can see it, I suppose." She said, unable to hold in her amusement at the man's exaggerated expression.

"Show your big brother some respect, young lady. Now get dressed!" Finnick joked, pointing to the closet before stepping out of the room.

Winnow glanced down to the pajama set she wore. It was skin-baring, sure – consisting of a thin silken top and shorts. But they were comfortable and cool. It was warm in the Capitol – not as warm as home, but warm enough. She shrugged – moving to the closet and grabbing the first garment she found.

It was another sundress, not unlike the one she wore her first night in the Capitol. It seemed to be made of the same material, but it was much darker – a deep wine red color that Winnow liked. She shimmied out of the pajamas, left them pooled on the floor of the closet and slipped the dress on over her head.

Winnow gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror. She wasn't sure the color suited her, but she liked it anyhow. The dress was a little thicker around her bust, securing it under the fabric. Thin straps held the dress over her shoulders – criss-crossing in the back for an interesting effect.

Judging her appearance satisfactory, Winnow left her closet and room barefoot – heading straight for the breakfast table. Only Mags and Kai were seated and eating, and Winnow uttered the shortest greeting possible before sliding into a chair and piling her plate high with fruit and bread.

Bread was her usual breakfast at home in District 4, but fruit was a rare treat. It was very expensive at home – and Winnow could count on one hand how many times she had had it before coming to the Capitol. But since then, she'd had fruit every day.

Her favorite was cantaloupe, without a doubt. Her plate was heaped high with cantaloupe, and a little bit of grapes and strawberries. Winnow liked watermelon well enough, but detested the taste of both pineapple and honeydew. Pineapple was a sickly sort of sweet taste that made Winnow cringe – and honeydew, it was just so bland. This was her only chance to try the foods she'd only heard of – why would she waste her time with honeydew?

And then there was hot chocolate. Before this, Winnow had only tasted chocolate once – when she was very young and her parents were still alive. But when she had tried hot chocolate – her eyes had gone wide and she'd nearly inhaled the mugful – not caring if she burned her tongue at all.

Winnow focused on her plate and consumed her breakfast until she heard the chime of the elevator doors. She glanced up and saw Finnick rising from one of the couches and heading for the elevator. Kai looked up from his meal reluctantly to see what was happening.

Out of the elevator stepped the fearsome looking Enobaria, and Cato. They both paused just out of the elevator – Enobaria to speak with Finnick, and Cato to look around and find Winnow. Once their eyes had met, Cato had started towards her. He wore a plain red shirt and grey lounging pants that molded to his body.

Cato caught sight of Winnow's wandering eyes, and then Kai's curious expression behind her. "Kai," he greeted quickly before turning his attention back to Winnow. "I heard you wanted to talk to me," Cato remarked.

Winnow nodded, shoving one last piece of cantaloupe in her mouth – before standing and grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him into her rooms. And as soon as the door was closed behind them, Cato's mouth was on hers.

His arms went around her – pressing his body against hers, delving his tongue between her lips. As much as Winnow wanted to enjoy this – she had other reasons for arranging Cato's presence in her rooms today. With much reluctance, Winnow tried to pull away. Cato, however, had other ideas and held onto her tightly.

Rolling her eyes, Winnow shoved him away from her hard- causing him to fall back onto her bed with a bounce. He looked up at her with an absurdly smug expression, licking his lips. "Sweet," he said – most likely referring to the fruity aftertaste from Winnow's breakfast.

"Cut that out," Winnow ordered him with a cross expression, folding her arms over her chest. "You're here for a reason, and that's not it," she informed him.

Cato pouted. "But it's been days," he said dramatically – causing her eyes to roll again.

"Oh, shut up." Winnow retorted. "We have to discuss strategy, and if we have time to have sex afterwards, I won't object." She informed him.

At her words, Cato's pouty expression quickly disappeared. "Strategy for what? We run to the Cornucopia, get weapons and start, you know, playing," he said.

Winnow sat down on the bed, curling one foot beneath her and stretching the other out. Cato lay back on the bed, his hand moving to circle her ankle with his fingers. Winnow let out a shiver before fixing him with a glare. "Perhaps we need a strategy for the ten tributes allied together who want to kill us," she bit out at him.

Cato's eyes flashed to hers – and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. "Which tributes?" he questioned.

"Districts five through ten," Winnow answered.

Cato relaxed – lowering his eyes and playing with Winnow's ankle again. "They're no threat," he said.

"Individually – yes." Winnow retorted. "But when it's ten against five, it's a little more difficult," she added. Cato shrugged, his lips stiffening in a line. She knew she would never get him to agree that anyone was a threat to him – much less the whole group of Careers. "It was the element of surprise that was on their side. But now that we know…it shouldn't be much trouble. You need to tell Clove and the others, though." Winnow remarked.

He gave a slight nod. "We know that they are going to try to overpower us at the Cornucopia. So we need to be the fastest to get to the Cornucopia, to the weapons – and then it will be child's play," Winnow said. Cato agreed to that quickly.

"How did you find out about this?" Cato asked curiously, glancing up at her as his fingers pinched at her ankle playfully.

"Kai," Winnow answered simply. His eyes narrowed and his lips pursed. It was clear Cato did not trust or like Kai – and he was not thrilled he had agreed to protect him. "The girl from six asked him to join. He told me everything last night." She said.

"And you're sure we can trust him?" Cato asked – turning his gaze to the slender limb in his hold.

Winnow's answer came after only a slight pause. A pause that Cato picked up on, nonetheless. "Yes." She said in a clipped tone that brooked for no argument.

"Are we done with strategy then?" Cato questioned – wisely ignoring her little pause. Winnow nodded – a slow smile spreading over her features. In answer, a similar smile appeared on Cato's lips- as he turned, moving on his knees over to her.

With a slight push from Cato's hand – Winnow was knocked onto her back. She bounced back a little, fixing him with an exasperated look as Cato threw a leg over her, planting it on her other side. Now he hovered atop her, a hand fixed on either side of her head, a knee on either side of her legs.

Winnow looked up at him expectantly, tense arms laying at her sides – twitching for a chance to touch him. Cato peered down at her with a burning gaze before dipping down and pressing his lips to hers. And as soon as their lips touched, her arms sprang up, coiling around his trunk firmly – pulling him down on top of her.

Cato's body fit snugly against hers, bringing her a comforting weight and warmth as their tongues warred for dominance and their legs tangled together. She groaned into his mouth every time various body-parts rubbed against the other – increasing a delicious friction that Winnow only wanted to satisfy.

She wanted to feel his skin. She was growing more and more frustrated every time she felt the soft fabric against her bare legs – and soon she found herself shoving Cato away from her. The bulky blond looked at her in bewilderment for a few moments before registering the wine-red dress that had just settled on the floor beside the bed – before wisely deciding to follow suit.

Off came his shirt, off came his pants and then they were both bare and twisting their bodies together on the soft bed. The moment they finally came together, a long, strangled breath escaped from her lips, followed by a moan. Cato had stilled for a moment – just looking down at her. When Winnow had opened her pale blue eyes to see what had halted him, Cato had merely dipped down to kiss her, smothering the whimper of protest that had nearly escaped, following his kiss with a rock of his hips.

Their lips remained meshed together for quite a while as their bodies rocked together, until Cato broke away to trail open-mouthed kisses down her neck and chest. Winnow leaned into his touch, wrapping her long legs around his muscular waist.

It wasn't long before they both found their release and collapsed onto the bed- sweaty, panting and bodies limp and relaxed. Winnow found herself laying in the crook of Cato's arm, head resting on his bicep and his hand on her hip. "Well, Four, you didn't disappoint," Cato said breathlessly.

Winnow smirked. "I guess I have to say the same for you, huh, Two?" she responded – beginning to recover her breath a little. With their egos and libidos both satisfied, the pair began to talk idly. About just about anything, really. Winnow told him how she worked on the fishing boats and that was how she had become skilled with the trident and knives, and Cato told her that he had been in training to become a Peacekeeper before the Academy had picked him to be in the Games this year.

"Do you have a token from home?" Cato asked suddenly.

Winnow blinked – surprised by the question. "No," she answered, her eyes downcast. "I have no family, so I had no one to see me off or give me a token." She explained.

Cato's brows furrowed and he frowned – especially as he saw Winnow's lips tug downward and she struggled to keep a straight face. He pulled away, finding his pants on the floor and rifling through his pockets. When he found the item he was looking for, he closed his hand around it and climbed back onto the bed where Winnow waited with curious eyes. "This is my token," Cato said, holding out his open palm.

Winnow picked up the token with Cato's nod of permission, examining the little object. It was a golden ring with a black pearl set in it. It was small – a woman's ring. "It's beautiful," she murmured.

"My mother gave it to me." Cato said. "I want you to take it." He requested.

Winnow looked up at him with a baffled expression. She dropped it back into his hand like it had burned her. "No, Cato." She said firmly.

Cato furrowed his brows and tensed up – he couldn't help feeling angry. "Why not?" he questioned harshly.

"Because it's too serious. A ring has meaning, Cato. If I wear this in the arena, you know what they'll think." Winnow retorted quickly.

"Then don't wear it on your finger, Winnow. We know how we both feel. I like you, and I like having sex with you. It doesn't mean its love. Our mentors want us to play the romance angle. This lends to it," Cato argued hotly.

Winnow hesitated, her gaze falling back to the ring in his open palm. It was so beautiful and she couldn't tear her gaze away from it. She had never seen something so expensive that she had actually wanted.

"I'll only lose it in the arena anyway," Cato added, seeing her waver. Winnow sighed – plucking the ring from his palm and peering at it closer. "Just put it on this once. Just for now," he requested. Winnow gave him a strange look – leaving the ring cupped in her palm. "Look – I know I'm not the most affectionate – or even likeable guy, but you quite possibly could be the last person I'm ever with. And following that logic…I might not ever have the chance to have a girl as pretty as you with my ring on her finger." He explained.

There was a low, soft tone to his voice that Winnow had never heard before. Never thought existed. She sighed, picking up the ring and sliding it onto the ring finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly – and the uneasiness she felt even seemed worth it when she saw the smile on Cato's lips.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a softer, gentler kiss than he had ever given her before. Winnow kissed him back harder, increasing the intensity of the kiss and giving him one harsh push to set him on his back. The young man looked instantly surprised by her actions before his expression turned to glee as Winnow mounted him.

Steadying herself with her left hand on his chest and her right behind her, Winnow began to rock back and forth – eliciting a groan from the blond beneath her. His thick fingers came up to grip her hips tightly – grinding her down onto him even as she rocked and twisted her hips.

Winnow wondered briefly how long Cato would relinquish control to her – but judging by his expression and movements, she thought he just might let her have the control this time.

One of his hands left her rotating hips and settled on her left hand – the one bearing his mother's ring – for the shortest of moments before he dragged himself up to be chest to chest with her. Cato let out a harsh pant and then a moan, rocking upward as Winnow swayed downwards.

He wrapped one hand around her hips and the other on the back of her neck – using it to pull her lips to his. Winnow began to move faster, her lips meshed with his – her world coming to a grinding halt as stars exploded before her eyes and aftershocks ravaged her body. A loud moan half escaped her lips only to be swallowed up by Cato as he continued rocking into her until he reached his own satisfaction.

With that, Cato collapsed onto his back, Winnow falling back with him. The pair lay still and silent except for their panting breath – limbs still tangled together. After a few minutes, Winnow sat up and crawled to the edge of the bed, extending an arm to fish for the dress that had been so hastily discarded earlier. "What are you doing?" Cato asked.

"Getting dressed," Winnow answered, pulling the dress over her head and lifting her hips to pull it all the way down. "Finnick's going to come in anytime now, and he'll never let me live it down if we're still naked," she continued, grabbing her brush from the bedside table and dragging it through her hair for the second time that morning.

Cato shrugged and followed suit – gathering his clothes and pulling them on quickly before climbing back into the bed to lay beside Winnow. She offered him the brush but he shook his head. "Oh, come on, you need it," she muttered, grasping him by the back of the neck and pulling his head up from the pillow and quickly running the brush through his messy blond hair.

When Winnow set the brush back on her bedside table and turned back to Cato, he was looking at her strangely through his stormy gray eyes. "What?" she questioned.

"You brushed my hair," he retorted with a weird expression.

"You looked like you'd just had sex," she protested in embarrassment.

"Maybe I'm proud of that." Cato argued.

Winnow fixed him with a glare. "Oh, shut up. If we're to portray a couple, that means your appearance reflects on me. So if you looked like that, it would reflect badly on me." She informed him haughtily.

Cato merely laughed at her in response. "Oh, sure. If that's what you say," he mocked. She narrowed her eyes at him before punching him in the arm – hard.

Cato was just about to retaliate when the door to Winnow's rooms slid open and Finnick stepped in. Cato's arm slowly sank to his side as Finnick approached. "Alright, children, play-time's over. Cato, you need to get back to your floor," he instructed.

"Whatever you say, Odair." Cato said with a roll of his eyes. He turned to Winnow and kissed her hard – more for Finnick's benefit than hers if she had to judge by the two men's peacocking. "See you later, darling." Cato said as he rolled off the bed and headed for the door.

Finnick glared heatedly at the back of the blond's head before glancing at Winnow. His eyes strayed to the ring on her finger and raised an eyebrow.

Winnow hastily pulled it off and put it on her bedside table. "He gave it to me when I told him I didn't have a token. It'll help with our romance angle," she informed Finnick – whose eyebrow merely tracked higher.

"Sure." He deadpanned. "Wearing it on your finger makes your relationship seem too serious. I'll get you a chain to wear it around your neck." Finnick remarked – turning and heading for the door. He paused at the doorway. "You stink like sex, by the way. Take a shower. Maybe two," Winnow stifled a giggle at his words, before rising to do as he requested.

A/N: Alright, we're coming down to it. One chapter until we hit the Arena! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the chapter. Please leave me a review.

Thanks again to gkmoberg1 and Emme for beta-reading.Thanks for reviews - please come again.