A huge thank you goes to Chelzie for not only beta'ing this, but making a FFnet safe version for you all.

Chapter 20 Part 2

My thoughts of a chaste swim fled from my mind the very second that Peeta began tugging at his neck tie. Suddenly, the dress that had seemed to fit so well felt very tight and restrictive, but I couldn't for the life of me do anything but watch my husband as he shed one layer at a time. He tossed his expensive tie over the porch railing somewhere and didn't seem concerned in the least that the silk might get dirty. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Are you just going to stand around in that dress all day, or are you going to join me?" he asked as his shirt went flying off in a random direction as well. It had only been a week and a half since I saw those magnificent shoulders, but I felt like I was seeing them for the first time and my mouth went dry as a bone. He chuckled. "So I guess that standing around must have its merits."

"I didn't think you were supposed to tease your wife until after the honeymoon," I muttered as I began to yank the pins from my hair.

He grinned. "That's a rule I've never heard before."

"You'll have to help me with all of these buttons," I told him, standing before him.

"My pleasure," he said as he began. His fingers caressed the skin that each little button exposed and he began kissing my lower back. I let out a low moan of desire as his tongue flicked against my flesh. "I think I will have to pace myself or you and I will never make it to the water."

"You're a tease," I snapped. I stepped out of the dress and carefully laid it across the back of the rocking chair, eyeing Peeta's pants with annoyance. "And you're not exactly naked yet, either."

"The legs make it harder for me to get in and out of my pants on my own. I might need some help." For the first time that day, he looked a bit self-conscious. Normally, I would have felt the stirrings of compassion at his plight, but this time I couldn't help but laugh.

"After what you just did to me, do you really think I will mind stripping off your pants?" I asked incredulously.

Peeta smiled sheepishly. "In that case..."

He used the porch railing to pull himself up into a standing position, and I gave into the temptation to kiss him while we were such close heights. My hands dropped to the waistband of his pants and I began to unbutton them. Peeta stumbled a bit at my touch, but righted himself quickly enough.

"My God," he murmured huskily, "You really don't mind."

"I don't."

Once his pants were off, Peeta settled himself back into his chair. "On my lap," he commanded roughly.

I straddled him with my legs hanging over the wheels. His fingers dug into my sides as he pulled me into a rhythm. I moaned and clung to him like he was the very edge of a cliff. The bruises on the backs of my legs that I earned from the uncomfortable position didn't occur to me at that moment. I didn't care that I was likely to fall. All I cared about was how badly I wanted him. Our movements were frantic and ungraceful, and it was over quickly for both of us. After we reached our peak, I laid my head on his shoulder and breathed heavily.

"Dear God," Peeta murmured. "We should get married every day."

I chuckled. "You'd get tired of it."

"Not a chance," he swore, shaking his head.

Burying my face in the curve of his neck, I bit him playfully. I would have stayed on his lap longer, but I finally noticed the ache that was beginning to build in my legs from resting on his wheels and the day was getting far too hot to be so close. With a sigh of irritation, I disentangled myself from my husband.

"Still want to swim?" I shouldn't have bothered asking, and Peeta gave me a look that said as much in reply.

Down at the lake, I watched Peeta hurl himself off the dock in his usual fashion. I didn't have to stop myself from admiring him in all of his glory. Seeing Peeta swimming was always a pleasant experience, but seeing him do it without clothing was another thing entirely. I perched myself on the edge and watched him moving below me. Before, I had only been able to see his arms, but now I got all of him. His strong shoulders and brawny chest were certainly worth watching, and I loved seeing the tightening of his stomach muscles as he moved. My eyes drifted lower as I watched him floating on his back and I felt myself start to blush.

"Are you ever coming in?" he asked huskily. "I thought we were going to swim together."

"I'm just watching you for a bit," I told him a bit shyly.

He laughed. "I still don't know how you can actually like seeing what's left of me, but if you do, I can only be thankful. I would certainly like to be able to see more of you."

"You get to see more of me than anyone else," I told him, feeling a bit more serious than the day warranted.

"Get in the damn lake, wife." Peeta splashed in my direction. I laughed and took a running start. Pulling my knees to my chest, I landed in the water close enough to him to send a tidal wave crashing over my husband's head. He sputtered lightly and pushed the hair out of his eyes. "I guess you gave me what I asked for."

I grinned. "I did."

He reached a hand toward me and I pulled him in for a kiss. "You aren't the only one who thought about this," I admitted. "I don't think you know what watching you swim did to me all those days."

"I can only imagine," he said slyly. "But I'm going to make you wait."

"Tease," I ground out in frustration.

He truly had meant what he'd said about making me wait. It also wasn't lost on me that he seemed to spend an awful lot more time floating on his back than he usually did. My husband was making a bid to drive me insane and doing a damn good job of it. We swam for about another hour before Peeta could be persuaded to leave the lake.

After I managed to pull him from the water, we made our way back to what I had begun to think of as our tree. I laid a blanket and our towels down beneath it for us to lie on, and snuggled against his chest. My hands were pruned up and my hair had become a tangled wreck from our swim, but I knew that neither would make me any less appealing to Peeta. As if to prove my thought, his own wrinkled fingers began to explore my face carefully.

"You really did look beautiful today," he said softly.

I nuzzled his neck lightly. "So did you."

"I always was the prettiest Mellark brother."

"I'm sure Matthew would disagree," I teased.

Peeta let out a groan. "His ugly mug is the last thing I want to think about today."

"And just what do you want to think about?"

His blue eyes nearly met mine dead on and he smiled. "Just you."

He kissed me so sweetly that the world began to spin. Peeta always gave the best of himself to me and I could do no less. I kissed him back as I pulled myself up beside him. The time for waiting was over, I decided. He was my husband and I was going to make love to him until neither of us could move. I straddled his hips and began kissing and licking at his collarbone.

"You really will be the death of me," he muttered breathlessly.

"No," I told him firmly. "You aren't allowed to die—not ever. You're going to stay with me forever."

He chuckled. "So we're to be gods of our own little world? What Grecian goddess do I have sitting on top of me?"

"I don't know anything about the Greeks or their gods," I admitted.

"They were all horrible in their own way," he informed me. "But we can rewrite the myths—after all, we are divinity." He paused for a moment, deep in thought. Finally, he quirked a blond brow wryly. "We're Hephaestus and Aphrodite. The embodiment of love and beauty is dark in my version of the tale, and she loves her crippled husband despite of his deformities. They live happily with no Ares to tempt her away."

"No one could tempt me away," I swore. "And I love my husband because of the man he is—crippled or not."

Our love making that afternoon was slower than the first time. Peeta's hands and lips trailed over every inch of my skin leaving me shivering despite the hot sun above us. Every time I tried to hurry things along, he would slow me back down. Now, I thought, he is going to be the death of me instead!

If I hadn't been on the very edge with passion, I would have walked away just to knock him down a peg or two. Instead, I felt like I was melting into him as we moved together, each motion sending shards of pleasure through my body. With a sharp cry, I reached my climax, sending Peeta into his own a second behind. I collapsed bonelessly on top of him.

"I wish we could stay here forever," I murmured against him.

"We'll be back before you know it," he told me, wrapping his arms around me. "And by the time we get back, maybe I will be functioning like half a man again."

Despite his teasing tone, his words shattered the moment for me. I pulled away from him and hugged my knees to his chest. "I wish you wouldn't say things like that."

Peeta rolled to his side and propped himself up on his elbow. "I doubt I'll ever really stop completely, but I can try if my sense of humor annoys you."

"It's not your sense of humor; it's the way you cut yourself down," I corrected. "You're more than half a man, Peeta."

"And I know that. You've shown me that what I've lost doesn't make me less of a person, but there will always be those that think it does. My mother taught me early on that the best way to defuse someone's ability to hurt you with their words was to say them before they got the chance," he explained with a sad smile.

"Well, your mother is an awful woman," I spat out angrily.

He shrugged. "But she's still my mother. And who knows, maybe the skill will come in handy someday."

"Just don't do it with me," I told him flatly. "You're my husband and I love you just the way you are."

"If you love me even a tenth as much as I love you, then I am the luckiest man alive," he said with a chuckle. "Who would have known that a trip to a freak show could turn out so well? Or that a lion man could marry a warrior princess?"

I smiled smugly. "I did."