Chapter 8: Permission to Marry You

The bill for my secrecy doesn't come due until the week after my picnic in the Meadow with Peeta and Enola. Even though I am now serving as the Mellarks' housekeeper as well as Enola's governess, Sunday is still technically my day off.

But of course, even on this day, I can't stay away from these two people who now have my heart.

This time, after a smaller meal in the Meadow, I announce in no uncertain terms that I am going to take Peeta and Enola into the woods. I want to show them my world. Enola is equal parts excited and scared, but Peeta is far more wary. "How will we be safe against wild animals? And there's…. there's ghosts in the woods!"

"Daddy!" Enola bursts out laughing at this last part.

"Who told you that?" I try not to smile at my lover in too much amusement.

"My mom. She always said that Lucy Gray Baird's spirit haunts these trees, and if we didn't behave…"

Now I'm the one who is laughing musically. "Lucy Gray Baird? Oh, Peeta…. you have to know that that's just an old ghost story!" Merchant kids aren't the only ones who were told that tall tale; Seam kids heard it too when I was growing up, though we at least knew better than to believe it. …Most of us, anyway.

I hold out my hand to him. "Come on, it'll be perfectly safe." When he doesn't move for a moment, I smile radiantly at him. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes," he answers me unequivocally and my smile broadens.

"Then don't stop now." And taking his hand, I guide him with purpose into the trees. Enola reaches for my other palm and we step into the woods three abreast.

I take them to my father's hunting cabin, right by the lake with the little babbling waterfall. I'm a little taken aback when I casually ask Enola if she knows how to swim, sweetie, and she tells me No with more than a little fear. I look to Peeta for help, but his hopeless expression makes me realize that he doesn't know the first thing about swimming either.

I quickly resolve to help them both learn. I assure them both that it doesn't matter if we're not dressed for swimming, and I strip down to my panties and bra to let them know we'll be perfectly safe. I feel Peeta undressing me the rest of the way with his eyes and find the strength not to look at him.

Enola and Peeta finally undress to their underthings too, and we all wade into the water together. I teach Enola the basic strokes and try not to overheat as I place my hand on the small of Peeta's spine, supporting him in his mission to float on his back. He is smiling at me, and I'm smiling back, and I know in the back of my mind I am drawing too close with Enola floating right here….

Our little paradise is interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping and I whip my head around, frowning in shock. "G-Gale?" I stutter, stunned and confused.

My hunting partner is leaning against the wall of my Daddy's hunting cabin. He ambles over, apparently carefree, though I know better: from the way he carries himself, my oldest friend is livid.

"When you didn't show last week, I figured Aspen had kept you up and you decided to sleep in, but after waiting at our boulder for hours today…" He glances between me, Peeta and Enola in turn, shaking his head ruefully. "I figured Mellark was keeping you to unreasonable hours, but I didn't expect you to spend all your free time with him too!" The subtext is unspoken, though nonetheless loud: spending our time – Gale's and mine to hunt – with Townie trash.

We all wade out of the lake and redress quickly. I bend low and murmur in Enola's ear: "Honey, go with your father. I'll see you later."

Enola clearly doesn't want to leave me, but one arm around her from Peeta and she knows she has no choice. I lift my eyes to my lover and can feel his concern for me radiating from him. He even looks like he wants to kiss me goodbye, damn if Enola sees, except Gale would also. I try to give him an easy smile, though we both know it's weak.

"Keep to the snare lines – you know the ones we followed when we came in?" He nods briefly, and I trust he will find them and thus his way back. I watch two pieces of my heart shuffle into the trees before turning to face down Gale.

"What, no kiss for your boyfriend?"

I blink, even as my pulse races. "Excuse me?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Catnip – I saw you with him and the little brat out in the Meadow last weekend! You and he were playing tag with your tongues under the old oak tree!"

I try not to pale. Oh, Snow's Roses… the one thing worse than Enola possibly walking in on Peeta and I kissing would be for Gale to. Ignoring his jab against Enola, I brush off the accusation by shifting my stance, folding my arms and doing my best to look annoyed.

"What are you doing here, Gale?"

"What you should be doing – hunting. I haven't checked our fishing nets this far out and I figured…" He gestures around him almost helplessly. "Instead, I find you practically bouncing on Mellark and with his little girl not ten feet away!"

I huff. "It was nothing like that, and you know it!"

"Bull," he spits. "All he'd need to do was rip your bra and underwear off with his teeth, than drag you under so he could…"

"Don't be vulgar!" I gawp at him with disgust, though secretly I thank him for planting such an admittedly delicious fantasy in my head: skinny-dipping here, by the light of the moon, ripples fanning out from Peeta's and I my jerking bodies… I mentally slap myself. "And what business is it of yours, anyway? Are you jealous?"

Gale gnashes his teeth. I know him: he's too stubborn to cop to a thing like that, but his response is just as good as he practically whines. "Fuck no! It's just… you're not around anymore! Rory and I get one day off from the mines, but are you spending it hunting? No. Are you spending it with your family?"

"They're my family too!" I shout, pointing into the trees where Peeta and Enola have just disappeared. "They NEED me!"

"What, to wipe their own asses? For Mellark to get his cock sucked?"

"You absolutely obscene…"

"I don't hear you denying it!" Gale warns me sharply. I snap my jaw shut too quickly, and his accusing orbs nearly pop. "Snow's putrid Roses, you have gone down on him, then!"

"Gale…" I try to plead, trapped like a rabbit in one of my own snares. "I've been taking on extra duties – I'm their housekeeper now…"

"Oh, so getting down on your knees and giving that Townie head constitutes 'extra duties,' then? Gee golly whiz, I wonder how his daughter feels knowing you're sleeping with him after you tuck her in….!"

"Don't," I growl, shaking my head in rage. "Don't you dare bring Enola into this!"

"And why shouldn't I?!" Gale rounds on me in a rage. "After all the years you told me you never wanted kids, yet you're keeping house with a couple of… of…" he splutters, momentarily seems to forget the epithet 'Townie' before lurching back into his rant. "Caring for some kid who should mean nothing to you like she means more than your own nephew – our nephew?!"

I regard him sadly. "Gale… I can't help it if Enola is here. I can't help if I love her. But that doesn't mean I've gone back on my word. I will not be made the enemy here! You know why I can't have children!"

"Can't or won't?"

I glower at him. "It doesn't matter which word you use – my resolve's still the same."

Gale is swaying listlessly, as though he wants to pace like a tiger. "You… you… stubborn ASS!"

And then he's abruptly kissing me, hard and unyielding, steering me into a tree. I squeak and push against his muscular chest, but I can't shove him away.

I do the only thing I can. As Gale tries to embrace me, I knee him hard in the balls. His lips jerk off of mine, and I shove him hard, so that he stumbles on a tree root and lands in the dirt.

I don't wait to see if he gets up. I turn tail and run into the trees, hearing him roaring and swearing behind me:

"FINE! RUN BACK TO THEM! ENJOY YOUR NEW TOWNIE FAMILY!"

I don't stop running until I've reached the back loading dock of the Bakery. The second Peeta opens up, I am in his arms, my own flung around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder.

"Katniss….? Sweetheart, what happened?"

"G-Gale…. Gale…" is all I can sob.

"Huh?" Taking me by the arms, Peeta draws me back and gives me a little shake. "What? What about Gale?"

I shake my head, blinking back fresh tears. "He kissed me. He yelled at me. He made it very clear he doesn't approve."

I feel Peeta's grip dig into my forearms. "He's wrong. And if he kissed you without your permission…." My silence tells him all he needs to know, and I'm truly frightened as I watch a muscle in his chiseled jaw tick. "I'm gonna kill him…." He states it with truly bizarre calmness, one born of danger.

"Don't!" I squeak, pushing against his chest, heading him off.

"He should not have….!"

"Where's Enola?" I blast out abruptly. Peeta blinks.

"Upstairs taking a nap. Why?"

"Better get started then," I breathe out, strangled. "We don't have much time…" And then I'm kissing him desperately, like I need his lips on mine just to breathe. My distraction does its work: Peeta kisses me back, dazed with wonder, and though he feels me up through my dress and I dare to grip him through his pants, we don't move to have sex.

Before long, our furious making out eases into a simple give and take, kisses more lazy and carefree than wild and frantic.

"Katty girl?" Peeta nuzzles his face into my hair.

"Hmm?" I purr. "What?"

"Is there anyone I'll have to go to in order to gain permission to marry you?"

I draw back to look him in the face, absolutely astonished. Speechless. Has Peeta Mellark really just proposed marriage? To me?

For a long moment, I simply drum my fingers through the loose, tousled strands of his golden hair, considering him, sizing him up. Weighing his proposal. Finally, lifting my head to his shyly, I reply breathlessly:

"Well…. you'll need to levy your intentions towards me with my sister… But first, I think we should ask…"

"…Enola?" He finishes with a chuckle, and at my giggle, we embrace and kiss. It isn't until we come up for air that I manage to whisper:

"Yes."

I know I have feared the conversation Peeta and I would eventually have to have with Enola, though I had surmised that when it occurred, we might have been caught in the act. I had never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that we would sit her down, confess with red faces and goofy smiles that we have fallen in love with each other and want to know how she would feel if we were to wed? I think Enola's answering shrieks of excitement disturb the whole of Town.

"Can I tell any of my friends?!" she asks, practically prancing at my feet.

"Not yet, my lovely. You may, however, run down to the Healer's – you know, Prim? – and tell her that her sister is getting married." Enola lets out another happy squeal and pelts down the stairs; I hear the back loading dock door slam a moment later. I feel Peeta step into me, arms winding about my waist so he can pull me into a chaste kiss.

"I love you," he murmurs, voice full of adoration.

I rest my hands lightly on his chest. "She deserved a say."

"And you didn't think she would approve of us?"

I flush. "I – We – were trying to be careful. I had no idea she would be so…." He kisses me to shut me up, and melting, I let him.

Peeta and I set a Toasting date for two Sundays hence. Primrose is absolutely beside herself, and insists that she take up Mother's wedding dress for me to wear at least to the Justice Building, for the part of the ceremony where we'll sign the marriage license.

I productively spend much of this time before my nuptials, before I am to become a bride, keeping to a normal routine: taking Enola to and from school, feeding her, bathing her, tucking her into bed. For someone who once took a vow of chastity, I find it quite easy to fall into a rhythm so domestic, cooking and cleaning about the Bakery and the house, though this isn't really any different from what I've been doing as housekeeper.

The week before the wedding, Peeta makes the executive decision to keep the Bakery closed. He and I agree that we shall have the Toasting itself here, likely in the presence of a few of our closest friends and family. The reception following the actual wedding in the Justice Building will be held in the Meadow. But first, Peeta declares that he has to keep the Bakery locked down so he can work on what he assures me shall be a culinary masterpiece. "Nothing but the best for my bride!" he promises me.

Naturally, Enola helps. It is how I find them, plodding down from the loft where I've been cleaning, three days before the wedding, to find father and daughter nearly buried in dough.

I smile, shaking my head and resting against the doorjamb, laughing at Enola's attempts to hide the unfinished dough with her own body. "And what are you two clowns up to?"

"We are up to nothing, stepmother dearest!" Enola bubbles impishly.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "I see we'll have much to discuss regarding the title of stepmother, young lady. For now, be assured that I won't be anything like the old stories." Grinning, feigning indifference, I wave away with a dramatic hand flourish. "Carry on!"

The night before I am to take a husband, I am sequestered to spend the night in my sister's house one last time. That day, my mother also finally arrives from District 4, having been written to by me regarding my impending nuptials. Enola begs, pleads and cajoles with her father to let her spend the night with me, as a sort of sleepover. Peeta finally relents, resigned to the reality that he will spend one more sleep without me, all alone and now also without his daughter. I placate him with a dizzying kiss goodnight on the back loading dock.

"This time tomorrow," I vow in a hoarse whisper, my lips buzzing in tandem along his. "I'll be your wife."

Prim fusses constantly the morning of the wedding; it's the first Toasting she's ever been invited to since, ironically, Peeta's to Delly, and she seems determined to make everything perfect, hardly giving me a moment to myself. By the time Mother sends her youngest, and Enola with her, 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 year. It makes me reflect on how much has changed since Peeta and Enola came into my life.

Prim, Enola 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 Enola picks for me in the Meadow. I wonder if Peeta knows that I've associated him with dandelions since we were children, since the day after he saved me with the bread, when I saw the first dandelion of spring in the schoolyard.

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, bouncing baby Aspen.

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!" Enola nods fervently at her side.

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, Enola 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 soon it won't matter anymore.

Mother, Prim and Enola 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, Prim and Enola 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, much like the one he wore the day I applied to be Enola's governess. I think he's even more handsome now than he was that day. The years have been kind to Peeta, sculpting his jaw and broadening his shoulders. He's no longer the shy boy who was 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 to the Bakery, so that I can take partial ownership. "And here is an extra set of keys. Blessings on you both."

Mother snatches up the thick envelope that contains the address and keys for the Bakery; 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 neck. Enola gets me around the middle, and my new stepdaughter is 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 our 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...?"

Enola looks almost smug, though her eyes – her father's eyes – are twinkling with pride. "We made it!"

I am speechless and incredibly, incredibly touched."But... You didn't! You shouldn't have!" My eyes are sparkling with emotional delight, and I don't think I've ever felt so loved.

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!"

Later that night, Peeta and I stoke the fire and Toast the bit of bread in our fireplace, down in the kitchen area of the Bakery. With an air of solemnity, we take turns feeding each other a piece. Then, by the light of the fire's glow, in the presence of his daughter and our two families and some close friends, I tilt my head and permit my new husband to kiss me.

We lean into each other slowly before closing the last little gap between us. I don't really know who initiates the magical kiss first, and I don't care, gasping and allowing my lips to part as Peeta's descend onto mine. We deepen it passionately, almost indecently and as my hands nearly disappear into Peeta's combed, golden hair, I lose my breath further still. Peeta gallantly dips me and I smirk into his mouth, continuing to kiss him back to cheers. At long last, after what seems like many sunlit days, we break apart sensuously.

Mr. Cartwright – stooped but still cheerful – strikes a melodious tune on his fiddle and Peeta spins me about our kitchen to laughter and clapping. I feel like I am floating, dancing at our wedding, and my own heart only swells all the more as I finally retreat to one corner and watch Peeta balance Enola on his toes. Prim is waltzing cheek to cheek with Rory, taking full advantage of how Mother is now at one of the corner guest tables, holding her grandson.

I all at once feel a tap on my shoulder, and turn to find Gale, smile strained and unsure.

"Hey, Catnip."

I nod curtly. "Hey." I know he had been at the reception, and though I also knew he'd be somewhere in here for the Toasting, I've been relieved that he's kept out of sight.

An awkward pause. "You… you look beautiful."

I flush, in spite of myself, though I keep my voice cool. "Thank you."

Gale grimaces horribly, and I can't help but enjoy watching him squirm. "Can we talk?" he finally croaks out.

"Yeah." I keep my tone correct, my countenance wary, and we move towards the front door of the Bakery. I can feel Peeta's eyes not leaving me even as he continues to waltz Enola about the front of the shop, and turning at the door, I give him my most winning, reassuring smile. The tinkling of the bell echoes in my ears, despite the jovial noise and the chords from Mr. Cartwright's fiddle.

I make sure Gale and I keep to the light coming from the house as I fold my arms expectantly. Gale awkwardly scratches at something behind his ear.

"I know…."

"First of all, let's just both agree for the record that you're lucky you're even here," I cut across him. I had understood there was no way news of my marriage wouldn't get back to him. When Rory had asked me, as an intermediary, if Gale could attend, family ties and loyalty to my brother-in-law had put me in the tough spot of tentatively permitting it.

Gale bobs his head, shrinking under the chill of my glare. "Duly noted." A truly awkward tableau follows. "Can you at least be honest with me about one thing?"

I shift on the balls of my feet, eyebrows lifting, waiting.

"Are you going to have a baby with him?"

I reel back, my grey eyes going as wide as planets in the moonlight. "I don't believe that's any of your damn business, but even if it were… would you blame me?" In truth, I have already confided in Peeta my fears of motherhood and pregnancy; I fell even more hopelessly in love with him when he told me he understood. That we – him, me and Enola – would be OK. We have each other.

Gale looks down at his shoes, mumbling something submissive. Finally, he gets to what I had hoped he came here to say:

"I'm sorry. For all of it. I'm sorry I forced that kiss on you…"

"You know, as far as that is concerned, the person you should really be apologizing to is my husband…" I opine prissily.

Gale looks askance towards the Bakery window, and I smirk at the genuine fear I see there. "Would you settle for an indirect conveyance of contrition?"

"I'll let Peeta know you have some air to clear, but that apology is one you'll have to give him yourself." At his look of panic, I grin with a kind of perverse pleasure. "Should you have the guts to risk that…. in return, I will make very clear that he is not to harm you…. too much."

Gale gulps. I smirk again. He looks askance again at something in the window.

"The little girl…"

I frown. "My stepdaughter's name is Enola…"

"Enola," he finally deigns to address her properly. "I'm sorry I said those nasty things about her."

Pursing my lips, I nod slowly, accepting his apology.

"She seems like a good kid," Gale throws out there, perhaps for my benefit. "Polite. ….Cute." He lands on it awkwardly, seemingly for lack of anything else to say.

I smile softly. "Unless she gets wind that someone she loves has been wronged. Then the State help you!"

Gale laughs tightly. "Sounds like someone else I know…" I blink, unsure whether that's a compliment or not. I sigh.

"Gale…. I know you might think that I've changed, and I probably have. But I can't help that. I fell in love." I smile sadly. "My family and my future, my home, is with Peeta and Enola now… and that's the way it has to be."

Gale returns my sad smile. "I know. For what it's worth… I'm happy for you."

"Thank you." I say this just as the bell tinkles.

"Everything OK?"

I turn in my bridal gown to see my… my husband and my brother-in-law standing in the doorway; Rory peals off to ready his cart.

"Yes, dearest, we were just talking." I flit over to him and kiss him deeply; Gale looks away pointedly, likely out of politeness.

"I… I'd better get going." Lamely waving, he slips off into the darkness.

By the time Peeta and I break our kiss, my hunting partner is already gone. My husband frowns. "You did that on purpose."

I smile guiltily, looping my arms about his neck. "Hmm…. Nice to know my wiles still work."

Peeta shakes his head, somewhat amazed by me. "You're a wicked, wicked woman."

"But you still love me," I tilt my head and bat my eyelashes at him.

Peeta groans. "If you really loved me, you'd let me give that bastard a good pounding…."

I take a moment to think about it, I shake my head. "No."

"Katty girl…"

"Don't 'Katty girl' me!" I cluck. I lightly press a hand into his chest. "Peeta: it's over. Gale apologized to me for all of it, and… I've forgiven him." He starts to open his mouth to speak, but I rest a finger on his lips to silence. "I told him he'd have to come crawling to you as far as that unwanted kiss was concerned – and I promised that you would go easy on him." At Peeta's look of dismay, I lift one matronly eyebrow. "Please, my love, promise you won't hurt him. Please? For me?" I smile sweetly at him, and Peeta at last hangs his head.

"… All right."

Balancing on my tiptoes, I kiss him lightly, beaming. "Thank you."

There is a creaking of wheels as Rory brings the family cart around. In the same moment, Enola comes darting out, crashing into our legs.

Rory smiles at her. "Time to go, little one. Your parents need a night alone."

I'm immensely proud of my stepdaughter that she doesn't fight it, trudging for the cart. Rory gives her a boost into it.

I lean into Peeta as he tugs me tight into him. "Thanks for taking her tonight, Rory."

"No problem, Catnip." My brother-in-law strides to the open front door. "PRIMMY, WE'RE LEAVING!"

Seeing Enola's crestfallen expression, I kneel down to her and cover her face with kisses. "Don't worry, my precious – tomorrow, Uncle Rory will bring you back and you and Daddy and I will have the rest of our lives together…"

"PRIMROSE, NOW!" Rory hollers. Prim comes sashaying out of the Bakery, looking a little miffed and with Aspen wriggling in her arms. Rory gallantly takes his wife by her waist and lifts her into the cart, then does the same for his mother-in-law when she follows. Rounding to the front, he takes both ends of the cart and calls, "Homeward bound! HO!"

"Be safe!" Peeta calls, and we lean into each other as our family – the last of our guests – rumbles off into the night.

As soon as they're gone, Peeta sweeps me off my feet and carries me grandly across our threshold, just as he did following our reception. I only let out a mild squeal of protest as he carries me all the way up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Now our bedroom.

"Peeta! What on Earth….?!"

He simply deposits me on our Queen bed and freezes me with a heated stare. I gulp, though my irises are burning with anticipation. I oddly don't dwell on the fact that this is the first time I will have ever set foot in this room; Peeta insisted on cleaning his own quarters himself, so as to not overburden me as his housekeeper.

"Why, Mr. Mellark…" I breathe, fanning myself a little. "What do you want? What are you going to do to me….?"

Peeta crawls up the bed, a sharp, lustful glint in his eye. "Everything," he hisses.

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 wedding dress, 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 in a clear sign of my 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 at the sensation of a 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!"

We are still going at it hours later, me astride his knees while bouncing furiously up and down on him, my palms resting lightly on his chest. The creak of the bedsprings is so loud and pronounced that I don't hear the strange banging of a door being opened downstairs. I don't hear the patter of feet as someone comes dashing up the steps. Only when the sound of Peeta's and my bedroom door opening, followed by a little body leaping and muscling to get on the bedspread do I realize:

"Huhhh….. Uhhhhhh….. Uggghhh….. Ohhhhhh….. OH! Oh, oh my goodness….. Enola! What's…. what's wrong, love?" I quickly swing off my husband, thoroughly mortified as our daughter burrows in between our naked bodies, shivering like a rabbit. She doesn't appear to notice the sweat clinging to us, nor does she appear aware just what she interrupted. I pray with all my heart that her innocent little eyes and ears didn't witness too much.

Peeta and I stare over his child's little head for what might be over an hour, calming our racing hearts and cringing, hardly daring to make a move or a sound. Finally, when I hear the even breathing of Enola, now sound asleep, I hiss at my husband:

"I thought you locked the door."

"Yes, and I thought you did. Or at least might have considered the possibility of a runaway sneaking out of your sister's and running halfway across the district!"

I gawp at him, letting out an offended laugh. "I wasn't exactly thinking of any of those scenarios while you were undressing me!" I finish the last in a hiss.

Peeta breathes out deeply through his nose. "Why don't you at least put on your nightgown then?" He finishes in his nightstand for some sleep pants, struggling to tug them on before rolling over. "Goodnight. I'm going to sleep."

Biting my lip, which I realize is partially to hold in my laughter, I slip my nightdress over my head and settle down onto the mattress next to Enola. I'll make sure to make the trek across Town to the Seam, and tell Prim of the jailbreak in the morning.