Disclaimer: I own nothing

…

The bright sunlight filtering in through the window woke me up. Wait a minute, bright light? The last thing I remembered was that it was getting dark. I closed my eyes and yawned as I stretched on the bed. I turned to see Peeta on the other side of the bed, but there was no one there. I sighed. I remembered that I had his shirt on and I sniffed it. Fresh bread and chocolate, his sweat, which instead of repulsing me only pleased me. Images flashed through my mind of the night before. I remembered his kisses and touches, his finger inside of me. Damn it…I was blushing again. I recalled what he had caused inside me, and I felt those familiar goose bumps again.

I got up, noticing that my joints were a bit stiff and a few of my muscles were sore. God…it had been ages since I'd felt this way, and Peeta's make-out sessions were doing this to me. I headed towards the dresser and shifted through my drawer looking for some panties. There were plenty of these from the Capitol as well, transparent lingerie that gave off the impression of being uncomfortable. Maybe later…I could wear one of them…Peeta would like it…I was sure he would because of the picture of the woman on the magazine cover. Had he learned everything he had done to me yesterday from it? If so, then at least it had been useful. His hands had touched me so expertly, ripping moans out of me…and mine had been insecure…but he had apparently enjoyed it…even though he didn't let me touch him that last time. Damn. Doubt attacked me like a punch to the chest. Perhaps I should ask him.

I picked up the first pair of panties I saw and noticed that they were normal, like the ones I usually wore, plain, without any designs, weird cloth, or see-through material; these were a pale pink color. I put them on. I braided my hair without looking in the mirror and went downstairs to the kitchen, assuming that Peeta was making breakfast. But there was no one there. I sighed. Where had he gone? I approached the table to pick up the piece of paper on it and read it.

I went to see how the bakery was doing. Kisses. Peeta

He had drawn a heart right beside the word "kisses." I grinned stupidly. But I was mad at him, he had left without saying goodbye, he could have woken me up, no? Usually, when he went out, he would wake me up so that I wouldn't worry. The one who usually left without saying anything, without even leaving a note, was me. I felt like going hunting, but then I remembered my sore muscles and realized that it probably wasn't a good idea.

I decided to have some breakfast, heating up a glass of milk and devouring one of Peeta's chocolate muffins. When I finished, I cleaned up my mess and went upstairs to shower, maybe a bath would get rid of the absurd thoughts I was having lately. I went into the bathroom, and even though I didn't want to, I discarded Peeta's shirt, and then the panties I had just put on. I looked in the mirror and gasped. Peeta was very strong and he had been very excited yesterday. My hips were marked with his fingers; you could see the purple marks perfectly. I pressed on one of them, and it hurt a little bit, but I smiled. I wasn't mad about having them. My neck and shoulders were also dotted with tiny bite marks here and there. The most incredible thing about it was that I hadn't even noticed what he had done. Had I been that intoxicated by his kisses?

I sighed and got in the shower, washing my conscience, enjoying the hot water. When I finished, I wrapped myself up in a towel and went to get my clothes. When I opened my underwear drawer, I saw the lingerie sets again. Undergarments that were "sexy," as my dear Cinna would have called them in his day. Although I felt some doubt, I picked up one of the sets; it was more or less plain, the lace on the panties was limited to the waistband, and the one on the bra to the top edge of the cups, but at least it was an intense black color. I then chose a red tank top and short black pants for my clothes. I felt strange in this clothing, but I looked good. Peeta would like it, I was sure of it; he had always looked at me differently whenever I used Capitol clothing, those that showed off more skin than necessary.

I went downstairs to the living room, intent on picking up a book to pass the time, discarding the one from yesterday completely since it had been so boring. I picked up one that looked interesting, but just as I was about to sit down on the sofa, the phone caught my attention. I dialed the number almost without thinking; she was the only person open enough to talk about something like this.

Ring, ring, ring, ring!

"Hello?"

"Hey…"

"Brainless!"

"Hi Johanna, I'm glad to hear from you too," maybe it had been a bad idea to call her, since she laughed.

"Hey, you know I'm happy to hear from you…"

"All right, well…" I sighed. How was I going to bring up the topic?

"Is there something wrong?"

"Uh…" I bit my lip. "No…well…yes…it's…iffy to talk about…"

"Shoot, beautiful."

"I…wanted to know…if…you…well…if…you could help me."

"With what?" I took in some air.

"Peeta…"

"Uh-oh…trouble in paradise?"

"No…no…on the contrary, everything is going well…too well…"

"Well?"

"I don't know how to do that."

"That? Ugh…you haven't screwed him yet?"

"What?"

"I mean have you slept with him yet..."

"We sleep together every night…" she cut me off, laughing.

"I meant have you had intercourse," she kept on cackling as my cheeks turned red, and I was grateful that this conversion was over the phone.

"Not really…" I don't know why, but I could imagine her grinning.

"Not really, huh…I thought that during the Victory Tour…you…"

"We lied."

"Have you at least gotten off?"

"Huh?"

"Have you had an orgasm?"

"Yes…yes…several…"

"And him?"

"Him too…" I sighed, I was dying of embarrassment, and she was laughing, she seemed to be having a great time, "Johanna, please…this is serious…I…he seems to know what he's doing…and I…"

"Katniss, you just need to let yourself go, do what your body tells you to do, and I'm sure that your body is begging you to fuck him, dead god, you're a teenager, have a little fun!" I blushed even more at her words, sighing; it was so easy for her to say…

"I heard things at school…like…that it hurt…and you bleed…surely that's unpleasant…"

"That doesn't happen all the time, and if it does, it's only for a second…damn it, Katniss, WAKE UP! You must have Peeta climbing over the walls, how long have you been together? More than two years, and that poor boy must be desperate to stick it in you."

"Ugh…" I couldn't even say anything else, her brazen words were scaring me, calling her had definitely been a bad idea… "Yes…yes…I…know…I just wanted to know…what to do…so I won't tense…"

"Focus on the pleasure and on giving him pleasure, don't rush, just let everything flow, don't start thinking, 'He's going to put it in, he's going to tear me up all the way to my throat,' because that's only going to make it hurt more and it won't be fun, honey."

"Aha…." She wasn't clarifying anything; I already knew all of that…sort of…she sighed.

"Just let go, sweetheart…and use protection…"

"Protection?"

"Do you want to have a kid, Brainless?" I shook my head even though I knew that she couldn't see me. "I'll take that as a no. Buy some pills…just in case…you know how they work, right?"

"I have to take them right before that," shit, I hadn't thought of that. Birth-control methods…we almost did it yesterday without taking any precautions…one thing was having intercourse and another thing was having kids, I absolutely refused to do that. I didn't want kids; there was no way I would allow that.

"Have I helped you out?"

"I little bit…but I still have the same concerns as before…"

"Ugh, you're just going to have to learn like the rest of us, just practice, there's no secret to it no matter how much I tell you." I sighed.

"All right…thanks, Johanna…"

"You're welcome Brainless, bye…" she hung up on me before I could reply.

Damn it, she had made fun of me and to make things worse she had hardly helped me any. At least she had reminded me to buy the almost magical pills. You had to take one right before having intercourse, or even hours prior to it, and it kept you safe from unwanted pregnancies. It was a great invention, and even though I knew that there were things like it before the Dark Days, these were considerably better. They couldn't possibly fail. That's what I liked about it, there were no accidents.

I put away the book I had just picked up, arranged my hair in a way that wouldn't show the marks Peeta had left on me, and left the house to go to the pharmacy that we had in the district. I could now allow myself to buy these pills, since medicine had now been made more accessible to everyone, and my district was in charge of making them, so I knew that we had that advantage.

I arrived at the pharmacy and bought the pills without any problems, save for my embarrassment for such things. Since I was close to the bakery, I approached it to see if Peeta was still there; I missed him already. One thing was being away from him while I was hunting and another thing was missing him while I was at home. Besides, ever since yesterday, the urging need to have his heat had become more and more intense, so much that I felt like I was almost drowning, and I had only been away from him for a few hours.

I walked the two blocks that separated the pharmacy from the bakery as fast as I could, and when I reached the corner, he was right there. My boy with the bread, shirtless and sweaty, just like yesterday. His skin was covered in tiny beads of sweat, especially his back, his strong and muscular back, but so soft at the same time…the fact that he didn't have a shirt on also meant that I could see that perfect line of blonde hair that descended down his bellybutton until disappearing beneath his pants. That trail that I had adored last night. I slight tingling ran down my in intimacy before I could help it. "Ugh, control yourself, Katniss," I reminded myself, was I losing it, or what? I made sure that my hair was still covering my neck, and I kept walking and smiled, he still hadn't seen me, he was carrying a heavy sack of cement to take it towards the strange machinery that mixed it in with water.

"You're still strong," he gasped when he heard me, and I chuckled softly.

"Katniss…" I could see him blush a little, how adorable, "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you," I bit my bottom lip, remembering what he had told me last night, "You didn't tell me you were leaving…"

"I left you a note…"

"It wasn't enough…" I faked a pout; I loved seeing Peeta's reaction. He leaned in to kiss me, but stopped an inch away from my face.

"What?"

"They're looking at us…" I looked around, and sure enough, all of the workers refused to take their eyes away from us.

"Remember that all of Panem has seen us kiss dozens of times, Peeta…" I sighed, scooting away from him, "Can I help with something?"

"No, it's okay…" I sighed again, he kept evading me. Maybe I shouldn't have come. "I don't want you to get dirty…you look beautiful in those clothes," and there was that blush on my cheeks again.

"Thanks…" I managed to stutter, although I stopped myself from admitting that I had dressed this way to impress him.

"We love seeing pretty girls dressed so nicely around here!" yelled one of the workers, Drake I think was his name. Peeta glared at him. I tugged on the bottom of my pants anxiously. Damn it, there was a reason why I didn't dress like this, I hated feeling like a piece of meat or a mannequin, that's how I had felt in those Capitol dresses. But I had stupidly wanted to look pretty for Peeta, even though he had seen me in my worst moments.

"Go home, Katniss…" Peeta murmured; he seemed upset by the guy's comment. I nodded, there was nothing else I could do, and my clothes were honestly not helping much, besides, I was still sore. I couldn't imagine how my body would cope the day something actually happened between us…

I waited for him to kiss me, but he didn't, he just brushed my cheek with his fingers and then walked away. I went back home kind of mad; I had gone out to spend time with him and had returned alone. Damned Peeta…I had even worn those uncomfortable undergarments that he probably liked. I thought about going hunting again, thinking it would clear my head, but discarded the idea again when my thighs protested as I climbed the two stairs on the front porch. Damn it, I was even sore because of him…although I honestly hoped that all of my soreness from now on would come from activities like the ones that had happened yesterday.

I entered the house reminiscing on last night's events. His kisses, his touches, his tongue…his finger entering me. I was starting to get hot. Even though we hadn't gone all the way, it was more than I had imagined I would ever go with a guy. I had never imagined that someone would make me yell and moan in such an embarrassing manner, I would never let anybody see me like this. But yesterday's events had happened so naturally…I just let go and did what I pleased. Like when I began to rub our intimacies together, I had no idea what I was doing, but my body asked for it and I liked it. I did what Johanna had suggested, I had let go before I had even talked to her. Maybe I wouldn't need the book that I was hiding in the closet…but it would remain there just in case.

To eliminate those thoughts from my head, I started making food, even though it was early, but I was going to cook something more elaborate than usual, so that I would be entertained. I could only hope that the kitchen wouldn't burn down and that the food would turn out edible. I began preparing the vegetables while I sang, and soon my luxurious thoughts disappeared, as well as the slight anger I felt because Peeta hadn't come home with me.

I was in the kitchen for hours, I was honestly starting to like cooking, even though I left the baking to Peeta since he was the expert, I always burned it or would leave bits of flour inside the dough. A few hours later, I took the goose stew with tubers out of the fire; all I needed to do was make the forest sprout salad, I hoped that Peeta wouldn't take long so that the food wouldn't get cold. I kept on singing, it had been a long time since I had done it, but today I had reasons to sing, no? Whatever it was that Peeta and I had, it had just taken one step ahead, and it was a big step for me.

When I turned around, I saw him and jumped and then stopped singing. I instantly blushed. Would I ever stop blushing when I was with him? I looked like an idiot…

"I love hearing you sing…you have a lovely voice."

"I don't like it when people hear me…" I looked away, fixing my gaze on one of the floor tiles.

"You used to like it…" I sighed.

"People change…"

"Well I would like it if that changed again…I love the melodies that come out of your mouth…almost as much as…" he blushed. Wow, I had gotten to him, and I blushed again too.

"I think you should start setting the table…" if we kept going with this conversation, who knew what would happen.

He set the table and we sat down to eat in comfortable silence, save for the soft grunts of satisfaction coming from Peeta while he ate. When we finished, Peeta grunted again, and I laughed softly while I stood to clean up.

"Either you really liked it or you were really hungry…"

"Both, love…it was delicious…and I was starving, I didn't eat dinner last night and today I only had a glass of milk before I left.

"How come you didn't eat dinner?"

"You fell asleep…I tried to wake you up, but it was impossible…"

"And since I didn't eat, you didn't either?" He shook his head, getting up.

"Watching you sleep with my shirt on was much more entertaining."

And just like that, another small phrase of his had made me blush. Damned Peeta…He smiled as he watched me, leaning forward as he placed his lips on mine very gently. He then brushed my bottom lip with his tongue and sought mine when I parted my mouth. We played with our tongues for a while and then he let go, giving me another kiss on the lips, panting. My breathing had turned erratic as well, and he stroked my cheek while I smiled foolishly as I looked into his darkening blue eyes. I perked up when I saw in his eyes that our kiss had given him the same effect as me.

He parted my hair away from my neck so that he could kiss it, and then he backed away with his mouth gaping.

"Did I do that?" I touched the bite marks.

"Who else? And it's not the only one…" I lifted my shirt and showed him the marks of his fingers, and smiled even wider when I saw his face. "You're strong…"

"Katniss…I…damn it, love…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" He passed his fingers through his hair nervously. "Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you?"

"I was…distracted…" I smiled and took his hands, if he didn't stop, he would rip his hair out, "Peeta, they don't hurt, I'm not mad, and I wasn't mad during that moment, okay?" He looked at me worriedly, and I kissed his hands and then I kissed his lips sweetly several times. "Have you seen your neck? That must hurt," I caressed one of his bruises, the one that was the darkest.

"It doesn't hurt…in fact…I like having it…that way they know that you're with me…especially that Drake…"

"That's embarrassing…no one should know that you and I…oh…my…" I began to flush again. Peeta chuckled. "It's best if we…control our teeth…"

"I don't want you to control them…" I was about to protest, but he kissed me with such tenderness, caressing my neck in such a way that my brain melted and I stopped thinking.

…

A/N- It seems like our girl on fire is beginning to prepare for her debut, although she continues to seek help. What did you think? Did I capture Johanna's personality well? Obviously the pills are not like the current ones, these are more sophisticated. I'll try to make the chapters longer from now on, thanks to everyone!

T/N- I am so sorry it took me so long to update! I got caught up in college finals but I'm trying to get back on track. I have at least five stories that I should be working on, and I'm posting some on here and some on tumblr, so if you would like to follow me there, you are welcome to! My URL is peetahutcherpeen, and the link is on my profile.

Teaser:

[…] "I was afraid…"

"Of what, Peeta? Of me?" I smiled a little.

"Of you rejecting me…I knew your stance on the subject perfectly…and then there's your innocence…" I sighed.

"You just saw that I'm not as innocent as you thought…" I snapped. I hated the whole thing about my supposed innocence, I wasn't a child, I had shown him that yesterday, and I would do it again.

"Don't get mad…" […]

Fire Kisses!