Chapter 3: Two Miners Toast the Bread
"Errrm….. Huhhhh….. Uhhhhh…. Mmmmm….. Faster…. Faster…."
As Peeta moves between my legs, I try to muffle my moans by biting into my hand, though I'm not sure it matters. We are in the Meadow, on our Sunday off from the mines, the tall grass and flowers surrounding us helping to conceal our frenzied movements. The blue skirts of my Reaping dress have been shoved up around my hips, and his pants are around his knees, open just enough to free his cock, which he is driving into me mercilessly. My shirt is pushed up as well, and he had wrenched my bra cup out of the way so he could lavish my left breast with his tongue and his teeth.
On one particular stroke of my clit with his fingers, I yelp loudly – "OHHHH!" - my attempt at relative silence forgotten. He hastily covers my lips with his, licking his way into my mouth. He swallows my moans as I frantically buck my hips in time with his thrusts, forcing his hand to bear down harder between my thighs. I feel the momentum of my orgasm barreling through me, and I can't fucking stand it any longer—I wrench my mouth from his to dip my head back and cry out as I cum.
When Peeta finishes, he rests his head on my chest as he catches his breath. Then, groaning, he crawls out from between my legs and pushes the hem of my blue dress back down for me, smoothing the skirt down. I feel boneless, relishing in the euphoria of my orgasm, trying not to think about anything other than the satiation of my body. Peeta flops down on his back beside me, his breathing labored, and I watch as he removes the condom and dumps the contents on the ground, stuffing it back into its pouch. His arms drop to the ground after he's buttoned his pants up, and he lets out a huff, staring up at the sky.
"Fuck," he mutters, and I sigh, turning my gaze to the sky.
"Fuck," I agree. I'm still not sure why I seem to lose all rational thought in his presence, why, despite knowing how this at the very least breaks all sorts of workplace taboos, not to mention separations between the Merchant and Seam classes, I can't stop sleeping with him. All I know is that, at least in this moment, it feels right, like being with Peeta is what I am meant to do, that's where I'm supposed to be.
Today is the first time we've made love since the fateful day trapped down in the mines. We had tried to resist, meeting in the Meadow just to talk, then, just to kiss, then, just to touch, to reduce each other to quivering messes with our hands, as if somehow that wrong is less egregious—but ultimately, we were just delaying the inevitable. We both knew where it was heading; we both knew we wanted more (why else did he carry a condom in his pocket?). So, when his hand had danced teasingly between my legs, under my panties, I realized what I wanted was his cock filling me up, not his fingers, so I pulled him on top of me and freed him of his trousers. Peeta quickly got the hint.
We're both quiet for a moment, and a cool breeze rustles my hair, cooling my face. I close my eyes. It's starting to get colder these days. That means the mines will only keep longer hours, so we will have no time for secret rendezvouses in the Meadow.
I can stop seeing him then, I tell myself, cut all ties. I just want a little more time with him until then, just another taste of the happiness I've found, writhing underneath him, before I have to let him go again. Then I can go back to my pitiful life with a man who I can't seem to make happy.
Fingers smooth over my brow, and I open my eyes to find Peeta watching me. He has rolled onto his side, and he is caressing my forehead, my cheek. I can't help herself; I smile. The corner of his mouth curls up, though his eyes are a cloudy blue. He shifts closer to press a kiss to my temple, but he rests his forehead on mine, his mouth brushing my ear. I can feel his warm breath, and it makes me shiver.
"I know I shouldn't say this," he starts, his voice low, "but what I wouldn't give to be able to strip you naked and worship your body the way you deserve so you can scream as loud as you want."
No, he mustn't say that. But I love to hear it all the same. Biting my lip, I curl against his chest and tuck my head under his chin. "Me too," I whisper, and he wraps his arm around me to hold me close.
"Katty?"
"Hmmm?" I purr, snuggling closer to him as I bask in the sound of the little pet name he has given me. "What?"
"Will you marry me?"
I freeze, pushing off his chest to sit up, staring down at my lover with my kiss-swollen lips agape in an amazed 'O.' I feel myself start to sweat, even as I lose myself in his sapphire eyes, and the only response I can manage to his impulsive and unexpected proposal is:
"I... I have to go."
The very next morning, I have to call in sick with the Miner Foreman. Perhaps skipping a day of work is just as well. With the whirlwind romance and courtship Peeta and I have fallen into, plus his abrupt popping the question to me, I need a day to think.
I retreat to the Meadow to try and sort out my muddled, confused, terrified thoughts, wandering all the way into the woods even though I've never been this far beyond the district fence.
KABOOM.
I hear the mine exploding all the way from the woods beyond the fence. Heart in my mouth, I dash back under the chain-link and sprint madly to the edge of the Seam. Fire is raging up from the earth itself. The elevator is screeching and straining as the Foreman pounds his fist into the lift button, unable to get the elevator through its trips fast enough.
As more and more injured miners emerge, I scan the crowd frantically for one head of hair that remains blond even now, refusing to let the grey and soot tame it. I barely note how Gale Hawthorne is safe among the survivors, being attended to on a gurney, so distressed am I to find him.
On the last elevator load up before Cray orders a reluctant Foreman to halt the lifts, I see him. Peeta. He is worse for wear, being carried in the muscular arms of a giant miner, Thom. Thom is an old friend of Gale's and has for years been the head of the digging crew. When he sees me, he has no qualms about passing Peeta off into my arms. I sink to my knees with his body, sitting on the ground with his head nestled in my lap. I let the tears fall onto his upturned face unbidden, no longer caring if anyone gawks at the sight of Katniss Everdeen - the stubborn bachelorette, the hardened shrew - weeping like a baby and lost in love.
"Peeta... please open your eyes. Please, please, please don't leave me!" Smushing my face into his cheek, taking a shuddering breath as I whisper, "I love you!" Gulping down another sob, I soldier bravely on, even as I become aware that most of the mine and rescue operation has fallen quiet to stare at us. Watch the show. "Peeta, please live for me! Live for me! I'll do anything! I will marry you!"
As I bend down to kiss the man I love... he opens his eyes. It is as if my kiss has awakened him.
"Katniss..." he croaks. I clap an amazed hand to my mouth, biting back the strangled sob.
"Oh my God!"
"Careful, mines can kill you," he cracks. I tearfully laugh and overcome with emotion, I kiss him again.
"Katniss... did you mean what you just said? About marrying me... again?"
My jaw hangs slack in disbelief, my cheeks on fire. "How much did you hear?"
He weakly smirks. "All of it. And the answer is Yes. I accept. I want to marry you again too."
I beam down radiantly at him. "OK," I murmur quietly, betraying my vow of chastity with little fanfare, killing it once and for all.
Though I note, as Peeta and I lovingly kiss again, that vow has been dead for a while. Right now, I am ready to make a new one.
Getting Peeta on his feet and home to my mother's is mostly a blur. I don't even remember falling asleep that night, my thoughts in a tizzy.
When the sun hits my face, I'm still curled up on my bed in my childhood bedroom, the scent of him, and of us, enveloping me. Peeta, however, is nowhere to be seen. I can hear low voices - his and Mother's - and the clatter of teacups coming from the kitchen, just beyond the door. Hurriedly, I dress and slip downstairs
When I walk into the kitchen the door, Mother turns and beams at me. I shoot Peeta a questioning look, but he merely smiles beatifically, and I have to resist the urge to grin just as goofily at him. My fiancé. My future husband, who already looks a million times more healthy and whole than he was mere hours ago.
"Peeta asked me for your hand in marriage... again," Mother says, breaking me out of my daydreaming. I turn, shocked, to face her, but before I can protest, she continues. "I told him it wasn't mine to give." She smiles gently at me. "You're an adult, Katniss, independent and strong, and you've been your own woman for a long time." She reaches out tentatively for me, and I move into her arms. We haven't shared many affectionate moments since Daddy died, despite having grown closer in the time Peeta has been with us, but we hug each other hard now. "I'm proud of you," Mother whispers.
"I love you, Mom," I reply, the first time I've said it in eight long years.
Later, I hang back just inside the doorway as Peeta asks Prim if he can talk to her in private. He'd insisted on asking for Prim's blessing too, and my heart had melted at the gesture.
"You sister and I want to have a Toasting, Prim. We want to renew our vows. May I have Katniss's hand in marriage?" Prim's answering squeals can be heard across the Seam. When she dashes off down the street to share the news with Rory Hawthorne, I step onto the porch, smiling softly and adoringly at my fiancé.
"I love you," I murmur.
Peeta is bashful. "She deserved a say." I laugh.
"You think she wouldn't have approved of us? Prim's been trying to marry me off for years."
Merchant weddings usually involve a lot of guests coming to the home of the groom's or bride's parents for cake. Seam marriages are generally celebrated with only a small shared meal between the two families and maybe a couple of close friends. All that's legally required is a trip to the Justice Building to sign some papers, but no one in District 12 really feels married without a Toasting, when the newly married couple builds a fire together in their new home and toasts a bit of bread. It's an ancient ritual, passed down through the generations, one of the few that remain from before the Dark Days.
Peeta has been living in the Seam for close to six months now, but he's still a Merchant down deep, and a baker at heart, so I don't try to dissuade him of his plans for a grand cake to share with the community. Unlike a Merchant wedding however, he opines that we celebrate in our Meadow.
We set a date for two Sundays hence. Sunday is the only day the mines are closed, and many of our friends and the people that Peeta has gotten close to in the Hob are miners.
Rye and Brann are thrilled for their little brother. Brann volunteers to help with the cake, while Rye offers up his own kitchen for the preparation. I feel a pang of sadness when I realize that Peeta won't be able to help bake his – our - wedding cake in his own kitchen. The kitchen he grew up in, but the Mellark brothers leave it unspoken that their parents cannot hear of their youngest solidifying his nuptials in the eyes of the district law, at least not from their mouths.
Delly promises a bouquet of flowers for me, and Mr. Cartwright gifts me a new pair of fine leather slippers to wear with my dress. They're far too fancy for me but I haven't the heart to disappoint Mr. Cartwright. And I know that Prim will be able to wear them too, when she marries.
The dress itself is actually an heirloom from my mother – "something borrowed," she calls it, reverently, almost as if the phrase itself is something traditional, has some deeper meaning from another time. Off to one side, Prim coughs out a phrase that sounds suspiciously like, "She means stolen." Apparently, it is custom for Merchant mothers to pass down their wedding dress to their daughters when they Toast the bread. When my grandparents disowned her, Mother apparently carried off the prized garment with her, and wore it when she wed my daddy. Now it is being handed down to me. It will someday be worn by Prim. Mother's dress has probably been worn only a handful of times, through the generations, but Prim tacks on ribbons and lace, and it looks like something completely new. I keep it hidden in Peeta's and my bedroom upstairs, insistent that Peeta not see it until the big day.
I see little of my fiancé in the week leading up to our second wedding day. I work five days a week hunting. Despite my fear and objections, he works two at the mines, working his way back up to his hours from before the accident, and virtually every spare minute he has, he's at Rye's house, creating a confectionary masterpiece. I wait up for him one evening, three days before we are to be wed. Peeta finds me on the front steps, bundled against the spring chill in my father's hunting jacket, clutching a flask of hot tea. He seems to sense my mood and drops onto the stoop beside me wordlessly. For a time, we simply sit in silence, passing the flask back and forth. Finally I gather the courage to speak.
"I never wanted children," I confess, unable to look Peeta in the eye. "I know you do, and you deserve a whole gaggle of little blond babies to spoil with cookies and shower with love. I can't give you than that, not as long as there is the Reaping hanging over them. I'm so sorry, Peeta. I.. I understand if you want to find someone else, someone who can give you everything you deserve." I reach the end of the speech I've been practicing for days and bite my lip hard against the tears that threaten to invade. I love him too much to trap him in a childless marriage.
I'm afraid to look at his face, to see his anger, his disappointment. So I stare at my feet until a large hand gently but firmly tips up my chin. His expression isn't angry, though. He almost looks amused. "Do you really think I didn't know that, Katniss?" He smiles then, and strokes my cheek. "We've been together only a few months, but I've loved you for most of my life. I know you. And yes, I'd like to have children, but only if it's with you. I want you so much more than I want kids. What we have is enough for me, and you're so much more than I deserve." I move to argue but he stops me with a kiss. "I'm so happy, Katniss. You make me so happy. If a child ever came into the picture, it'd be wonderful, but even if that never happens, I'll still be the happiest man in Panem. Because of you. You're all of my dreams come true." It's sappy, and a little silly, but I beam anyway.
Peeta spends the night before our Toasting at Rye's house, at Delly's insistence; apparently there's an old Merchant custom that seeing the bride before the wedding is bad luck. I think it's hogwash, but it does give me an opportunity to meet with Brann early that Sunday morning, before the spring sun has even crested the horizon. He doesn't ask why I want his help baking such a specific loaf of bread and I don't offer any explanation.
"Do you think he'll like it?" my brother-in-law asks me as he stokes the flames out back in our yard.
"Peeta will understand. That's all that matters."
And when it comes out of the little brick oven with the crusts slightly charred I know it's even more perfect.
Prim fusses all morning; it's the first wedding she's ever been invited to and she seems determined to make everything perfect, hardly giving me a moment to myself. By the time Mother sends her youngest out to collect wildflowers for her sister's hair, I'm a nervous wreck.
In the few moments of stolen quiet while Prim is gone, Mother calms and soothes me, her eldest girl, tentatively sharing the kind of maternal insights that have been so lacking in our relationship over the years. It makes me reflect on how much has changed since Peeta came into my life.
Prim and Mother braid two small sections of my hair, crowning me with the ropes and leaving the rest of my chestnut locks to cascade freely, knowing how Peeta loves my hair down. They weave wildflowers through the strands; Queen Anne's lace and clover and rue and dandelions. Lots of dandelions. I even tuck a few of the sunny yellow blooms into the small bouquet of white carnations Delly brings me.
Each time my nerves threaten to get the best of me, I look at them, tucked into my bouquet, crowning my little sister's golden head, and I'm reminded of the boy with the bread. Peeta is my dandelion in spring, bringing me hope, reminding me that life can be good.
Once I'm in my dress and in front of the mirror, Mother steps back to admire her handiwork. "Now you look beautiful too," she murmurs softly.
"I wish I looked like you," Prim mutters from the loveseat.
I turn and flit back to her, kissing her face. "Oh, no…. I wish I looked like you, Little Duck!"
"Are you really getting married?" Prim's eyes are shining, and she even lets out a romantic sigh. "To Peeta?"
I smile, flushing. "Well…. yes. I suppose I am. If he'll have me."
Prim giggles. "He'll have you! I've seen the way you look at each other. I know you've been in love forever!"
My head swims. Was I such a fool that my sister could see what I couldn't? That I loved and lusted for this man who is soon to be my husband long before I even could put it into awareness? I can only smile, standing up so my bridal skirts no longer fan out.
"Well…. then, let's go get me hitched, why don't we?" Looping my arm through hers, I allow Primrose and Mother to escort me across the Seam and into Town to the Justice Building. My eyes and my heart pine as we pass by the Bakery, but I soon wince when I can clearly hear shouting:
"I FORBID IT!" That's the Baker's Witch of a wife, Peeta's mother. Has he told her? Has he told her of his intent to marry me? To take me as his bride, his wife? In our stolen moments and kisses alone together lo these many weeks, Peeta has promised that, despite the danger it might bring down upon our heads, he will tell his mother of our intent to wed.
"Don't worry, Katty, I won't ask for her blessing. Only her acceptance. She's already disowned me anyway. I will stand there with you in the District Clerk's office."
Mother and Prim sequester me in the cloister just off the District Clerk's office. When couples go to marry in District 12, they must sign a marriage license in the presence of the clerk and the district Justice of the Peace so that they may be declared married as husband and wife in the eyes of the law. I have only been inside the Justice Building once before, when Daddy died and I, as the eldest child, was awarded the Medal of Valor on his behalf. But marriages take place in a different section of the building, so I'm able to push those unhappy memories away.
It is several minutes before the District Clerk comes to fetch us.
"We are ready for you now, Miss Everdeen."
With Mother and Prim escorting me, I enter the tiny office. I promptly lose my breath when I see Peeta, handsome in a pressed dress shirt and slacks. He's wearing a crisp new shirt, pale blue. The years have been kind to Peeta, sculpting his jaw and broadening his shoulders. He's no longer the shy boy who was apparently so afraid to talk to me; he's a strong, confident man now. And soon he'll be my husband.
When he sees me approaching his face lights up, awestruck. He is gazing at me as though I am radiant as the sun. I can't contain my grin as I run the last few feet to stand before him. "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he gasps, stroking my loose locks with a shaky hand.
"You don't look so shabby yourself, Mellark," I try to joke, but my voice sounds breathy and giddy. He laughs.
"Still want to do this?" His question is lighthearted but I can see the genuine worry. I grab his hand and tow him towards the District Clerk's desk in response.
Standing before him, we join hands as the Justice of the Peace blesses us:
"Katniss Magenta Everdeen, do you take this man, Peeta Joseph Mellark, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," I murmur, still stunned that I could proclaim so openly and without reserve.
"Peeta Joseph Mellark, do you take this woman, Katniss Magenta Everdeen, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Peeta is beaming.
"Will both of you sign here, please?" We approach the desk where the District Clerk is now directing us to sign the marriage license. I take a deep breath as I affix my signature to the document. I stare down at the new name I have taken, my married name: Katniss Everdeen Mellark.
All is silent as the clerk pushes paper after paper across the narrow desk, and with nothing more than a few flourishes of a pen Peeta and I are officially wedded by the laws of Panem and the laws of District 12. Our first married kiss tastes like equal parts joy and relief.
"Then I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss," the Justice of the Peace says. I smile shyly as Peeta takes me in his arms, and when he kisses me, I melt into it instantly.
"I love you!" I whisper along the seam of his lips, my voice strangely hoarse, and I realize it is because I am crying from happiness. "I love my husband…"
There is one more thing that must be done. The District Clerk now hands us deed papers. "Here is the assignment to your new house in the Seam: 331 Oberlin Road. Blessings on you both."
Mother snatches up the thick envelope that contains the address and keys for the house assigned to us newlyweds; it's customary that the family sneak in before the couple gets there to set things up.
I laugh as Prim runs up and hugs me around the middle, my baby sister chittering to me with excitement, and I kneel before her, my bridal skirts fanning out, to kiss her cheek. Then, arm in arm with my…. with my husband, we leave the Justice Building together, striding back to our new home in the Seam.
The path is lined with people singing the traditional District 12 wedding song. Merchant and Seam, blond and dark heads both raise their voices in celebration. I find myself overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection. I never thought of the district as a place that cared about me until this moment.
There's almost a carnival atmosphere in the Meadow as people file in, having followed the bride and groom, singing and laughing the whole way. Peeta's brothers set up tables and cover them with treats; cookies and squares, a rare treat for so many of the Seam folk in attendance. And then they bring out the cake.
I've never seen such an enormous cake in my life, could never have even dreamed one. And yet, even though it's massive, it's so perfectly simple. Instead of the stacked tiers that are popular with the wealthiest merchants it's a single layer, rectangular, easy to cut and to share.
But it's certainly not plain. Peeta has painstakingly recreated the Meadow in cake form.
On a layer of green frosting he's arranged at least a hundred gum paste wildflowers; clover and buttercups and even dandelions. It simply couldn't be more perfect. I can barely fathom how much work he's put into it. I flit it over to it, both hands to my mouth and my eyes stinging with tears.
"OH! Snow's roses, it's a vision! But.. but how did you...? You didn't! You shouldn't have!" My eyes are sparkling with emotional delight, and I don't think I've ever felt so touched.
Peeta is fixated on me, the entire time, waiting, yearning for my approval. "Do you like it, Sweetheart?" And though I'm not one for public displays, I stretch up on my toes and loop my arm around his neck to kiss him soundly. Cheers and wolf whistles go up, then a smacking sound; I smirk into my husband's lips as I think of Rye getting a little too boisterous, and deepen the kiss, purring.
"Oh, darling... I love it! I love you!"
There's music and dancing, virtually everyone we know makes an appearance. Gale comes with Bristel; Delly and her father; Peeta's brothers and most of his childhood friends. Even Sae and her little granddaughter twirl together. The hugs and handshakes are nonstop.
Though his smile never once falters, I catch Peeta several times looking towards Town for the two people who don't show up. My heart pangs for the man I love, the man I married.
When the party dies down we slip away to my childhood shack in the Seam, which will now be just Mother's. I quietly slip inside to change out my wedding dress and into my blue Reaping dress, for the next part of the ceremony. Loading all of my possessions into a cart we borrowed from the Hawthornes, I allow my husband to take me by my waist and gentlemanly lift me into the wagon. Then, showing off how terribly strong he is, Peeta pulls the wagon to our new home.
I'm a Merchant now, so we've been assigned a house in Town, but Rye must have pulled some strings because our new dwelling is on the very edge of Town, right at the path that leads to the Seam. Fitting for a couple whose lives straddle both communities in so many ways.
I am shocked when Peeta and I arrive at our new home to find that Greasy Sae, half the Hob, and even Gale have followed us here from the reception, waiting at our front door. Cheers erupt when they see us, the happy couple, and I bashfully hide my aflame face in Peeta's shirt. I am the picture of a blushing bride, luminescent, radiant, and Peeta's gaze of adoration only further warms me.
I let out a surprised squeal as Peeta suddenly sweeps me off my feet and carries me, bridal-style, across the threshold of our new home.
Town homes, while tiny, are palaces compared to the shacks in the Seam. But I barely notice the larger living room, the separate kitchen, the bathroom with a real bathtub. All I see is the fireplace, a tiny bundle of kindling on the hearth beside a white linen wrapped lump - the bread I baked with Brann that morning. The papers at the Justice Building, the party, the cake, none of those things are as real as the scene before me. The enormity of it leaves me breathless.
Peeta's eyes never leave me, his bride. He's uncharacteristically silent as I light candles. The electricity is off, as usual, and the sun has nearly set. Once the room is aglow I turn to him, holding out my hands. His eyes are like saucers as he takes in the sight of me in my wedding dress, bathed in candlelight. We stand in front of the cold fireplace for many long moments, just staring, admiring. Finally with a shuddering breath I ask, "Ready?"
Peeta's a whiz with fires, expertly laying the kindling and coaxing the flames into a roaring blaze, filling the room with warmth and light.
We kneel before the hearth, hands clasped tightly together, both trembling with nervous anticipation. I'm about to reach for the Toasting bread when Peeta stops me. "I wanted to give you something first," he says softly, releasing one of my hands to reach into the pocket of his shirt. "I know it's not customary in the Seam, but I was hoping…" he trails off, and my breath catches. The firelight bounces off the object in his hand. A ring, a wedding band. I've seen them before; Mrs. Undersee wears one, but it's an extravagance a poor girl from the Seam like me could never have dreamed of wearing myself.
He lifts our joined hands and reverently slides the thin silvery band onto my finger; it's a perfect fit. It's not a plain band, as I first thought, but three slender cords, braided together. Made by Brann's hand, I've no doubt. Peeta must have been saving up for it for months, for far, far longer than our fortnight engagement. He answers the unspoken question in my eyes. "I've been waiting for this day practically my whole life, Katniss. I've always believed we would get here, that no matter what…"
"This would have happened anyway," I finish for him, and his smile is dazzling in response.
Peeta reaches for the bread then, and I hold my breath. Baking this loaf had seemed so fitting, but compared to the gift he's just given me it feels silly now. I watch as his brows furrow; the slightly charred, dense loaf isn't what he was expecting, of course. The Bakery sells tiny loaves of fine white bread for Toastings, and I know that's what he'd asked Brann for.
"I baked it," I whisper, and his eyes snap up, filled with awe. I take one end of the loaf and together, we break it apart. His eyes widen when he sees the fruit and nuts inside.
I shuffle forward awkwardly, until my face is just inches from his. "I never thought I wanted this. But you give me hope, Peeta. And affection. Every single day. Your kindness, your steadiness, your love. I never knew I could be this happy."
My confession may be disjointed and rambling but he understands, and the bread lies forgotten in his lap as he cups my face, kissing me with barely restrained passion. "Let's do this," he groans when finally we break apart, "so I can make love to my wife."
There's no protocol to a Toasting, no rules to follow or speeches to recite, though most couples say at least a few words. Kneeling together, forehead to forehead, sharing bites of life-sustaining bread, toasted in our marital home by our own hands, the only words that pass between us are hushed declarations of love and devotion. When every bite has been enjoyed he kisses the crumbs from the corners of my mouth and then carries me into our bedroom.
We undress each other with sure hands, caressing and complimenting, each touch an affirmation of our commitment, kissing in frenzied, desperate pecks all the while. Feeling shy, I play coy, donning a simple nightdress. Should my husband be insistent on wanting me, he can undress me again.
Once he deposits me on the bed, we lay together holding each other for a while, kissing lazily while my husband spoons me. I smile, smirk. "Good night, Mr. Mellark. I love you."
Peeta grins. "I love you too, Mrs. Mellark. But if you are amenable, I don't think we should go to sleep just yet."
I snuggle in closer. "And just what did you have in mind, my love?"
The answer comes when I feel a pair of lips now dipping a kiss into the curve of my neck.
Peeta sharply rolls me over onto my back, and I stare in shock at how he hovers above me, the moonlight accentuating his silvery eyes that now seem to smolder. Gulping, I feel him press against me, and then I let out a gasp when I feel strong fingers push back the hem of my nightgown, push it up over my hips.
A large, strong set of fingers sink into the folds of my feminine beauty, and I feel dampness gather despite my lack of arousal.
Peeta dips his head down to mine and kisses me fiercely, and I sink into it. With his free hand, he dares to reach out and gallingly cup my right breast; his other hand is still palming my heat, stroking me, grooming me.
"Mmmmhmmmmm…." I make a pleased noise in the back of my throat, and I yield. Peeta squeezes my right breast again, causing the nipple to harden in the cool, late spring air. Rather sharply, my husband yanks down the bodice of my nightshirt to bare my breasts, and his mouth switches from ravaging mine to sucking on my left nipple, making the bud ache.
And then… I feel a bloated thing push into my vagina and I cry out as I marvel anew at the sensation of this man filling me.
Peeta pauses inside me for a moment or two, focused on kissing and fondling my breasts, before he then begins to thrust inside me. The bedsprings creak and strain underneath our undulating bodies, the headboard smacking against the wall of rotting wood, plastered by clay.
"Fuck, fuck…. Urrrr…. Grrrrr…." Peeta grunts with pleasure into the sweaty curve of my neck again. All I can do is grip his back and hold him close to me as he takes me, fucks me. I pass the time of our frantic coupling by staring at the ceiling, counting the ceiling tiles, trying not to make a sound even as moans and noises of bliss are torn from my lips.
I whine as Peeta pounds me into the mattress.
"Ummmmm….. Ugghh….. HUHHHHH! UHHHHH!"
Peeta finishes inside me rather quickly, and rolls off of me. Curling into him, readjusting my nightdress, I try to go to sleep.
But it is only a few hours before passion awakens us both again.
I stir back into consciousness when a soft and calloused hand turns my face back to his as Peeta kisses me deeply. Purring happily, I return the kiss with a boldness that surprises even me, shivering as I feel Peeta's hands now glide up my thighs, pushing the hem of my nightdress up around my hips again, bunching the fabric. With a sigh, I gallingly yank the bodice of my nightdress back down so that my bare breasts glisten in the moonlight. I wiggle my shapely bottom, now also exposed against Peeta's fierce erection and am satisfied when I feel him rut against me with a whimper.
But Peeta isn't done. He continues to furiously rub his length along the perfect globes of her toned buttocks to get harder still. Keening into him, I groan, shuddering with delight as I feel his arms encircle me. One of his large hands dips into the damp wetness at the apex of my thighs, swirling his fingers along my nub. With his free hand, Peeta reaches around and brazenly cups the flesh of her left breast, pinching my purple and pebbling nipple until it is erected to painful tenderness. Mindful that my right breast is being left unattended, Peeta cranes his face over my writhing form and takes her remaining nipple deep into his mouth, suckling on my boob.
"Peet…a….." I squirm happily, almost stunned speechless and wondering where in the world he learned to do that. "What are you…..? OHHHHHHH! Oh, Panem, yes! Fuck me right there! Fuck my arse!"
For at that moment, Peeta takes me fiercely from behind in one, glorious thrust, shoving his now free member in between my ass cheeks. Jerking his hips violently, he begins to slide in and out of my anus, all while fondling my large breasts with his hands and his mouth and fucking my clit with his fingers. I have to clap a hand over my mouth to quiet my moans, which soon morph into yips and squeaks as Peeta continues to fuck me.
"Mmmm… Hmmmm….. Huhhhh…. Uhhhh…. Oh….. Ooooooohhhhh….. Ohhhhhh… OHHHHHH! MMMMMMM!"
With one final, slam, my buttocks trap his member deep inside me as he cums, milking him. Seconds later, the muscles in my pussy contract, tightening around his hand as, with a strangled cry and arching my back against him, pressing my ass into his hips, I cum so hard I see stars.
Rolling onto my back, my grey eyes huge and sparkling in the moonlight, I wordlessly spread my legs for him, opening my thighs wide invitingly.
Peeta doesn't need to be told twice. Scrambling on top of me, he slams his penis deep into my dripping wet folds, nearly pulling all the way out before he thrusts into me again. My hips snap up to meet him every time, so that our bare skin makes a kind of squelching, clapping sound as we unify together. Beneath us, the bedsprings under the mattress creak as we work up a rhythm, learning to please each other together. I have to bite down on my lip to keep from crying out; Oh, Snow, if the neighbors hear…..!
Peeta growls as he continues to thrust into me, and I winding my legs about him to bring him closer, closer still. I am nearly naked except for my nightdress bunched up, almost folded in half around my navel, leaving my breasts free and my sopping cunt exposed to the humid summer air.
Peeta is quivering above me, and I know that he's close. I decide that this dynamic won't do at all. So, assertively, I suddenly shove my hands into his chest, flipping him off of me and slamming him back into the mattress.
From his wide eyes, Peeta fears that I have had enough, but then he nearly chokes as I solemnly, with purpose, swing my long legs over his hips as I move to straddle him. There is a soft rustling of the sheets and then cloth as I untie the straps to my nightdress at my waist, allowing the garment to fall away and pool on the floor. Bracing one hand against the sloped ceiling of this little room, I slowly begin to bounce up and down on Peeta's dick, watching his stunned expression as I enthusiastically make love to him. This time, I don't bother to be quiet as I moan and whimper, feeling Peeta's touch burn where he is gripping my hips as he jerks up into me.
We spend half of the rest of that night, our wedding night, having sex.
"Hurrrr…. Urrrrr… Huhhhhh! Uhhhhhh!"
