Chapter 4: Blowing Up the Tension
The alarm clock pierces through the calm of the early morning. Groaning, I roll over to see a man on the other side of my bed. A man who is now rising from the mattress and plodding over to my - our - bathroom. I remember the events of last night and blush beet red at the sight of Peeta, my new husband, in nothing but boxer shorts.
"You have to get up early for the bakery?" I yawn, as I follow him into the bathroom.
"Yeah," he replies, splashing water on his face.
"Will your parents be suspicious that you didn't come home?" I wonder.
"I'll make something up. Besides, I've been out all night often enough before." There is a look in his eyes that makes me sense there is something he doesn't want to tell me. Almost instinctively, I feel a pang of hurt for him. I brush both of these observations off. It's none of my business.
"And you have to go hunting?"
"Then be back in time to feed Daddy, wake Prim and take her to school," I finish.
"You take the shower first, then. You have more to do."
"But you have a schedule to keep, clocking in!" I argue. Before I can stop myself, I am stripping my nightshirt off in front of him. He respectfully turns around, but then flinches when I begin pushing him towards the shower. "We'll have to go together. There's not much time!"
Despite the fact that we've been husband and wife for roughly twelve hours, Peeta and I tiptoe around each other under the spray. First he luxuriates, then scrubs while I go rinse. As we rotate, we are painfully careful to not brush our bodies up against each other, nor to look at each other, in any way. This feat is barely possible, though, with as small as the shower is. At one point, I even feel... something intimate of my husband accidentally brush against my butt.
I huff. This is ridiculous. Peeta and I are walking on eggshells, as if a bomb will go off at any moment. I think back to my musings about how this whole marriage thing is going to work, whether there are to be any rules.
And in this moment, I realize it would be better for everyone involved if there were no rules at all. So thinking, I avoid the proverbial bomb Peeta and I have been dancing around by deliberatively setting it off.
Spinning around, I suddenly push Peeta up against the wall.
"What are you doing?"
"Why is standing still such a hard concept for you?" I growl.
"For us. But I don't -"
"Shut up!" I snap. I drop to my knees, so that my husband's... manliness dangles directly before me. Boldly, I take my spouse's penis in my mouth. Before he can do something like extract himself, I tenderly cup his balls in my hands and squeeze them.
"Oh! Mmmmmm!" Peeta claps a hand over his mouth, careful not to wake the whole house as I give him the blowjob of his life.
I never expected that I would ever know Peeta's foreskin between my lips. It feels smooth, healthy... and it tastes like yeast. I inhale deep in my nostrils and catch the smell of freshly baked bread...
"Hmmmmmmm..." I moan in pleasure, my eyes fluttering shut, as I lazily loll my tongue out to lick the upper reaches of his shaft. He tastes so good... It's almost like I can't get enough of him. And I can't! My mouth now springs forward jerkily, desperately, intent on swallowing him whole. Even when his tip is slapping against the back of my throat, I work furiously, desiring to inhale more, more of him. My jaw quickly becomes sore.
"Mmmm!" I let out a strangled squeak as I feel a sharp pinch to my head. Peeta's fingers are now weaving into the tendrils of my hair. His digits sink, dig into my scalp as he holds my skull in a set position. It's not exactly necessary; I wasn't planning on going anywhere for a while.
"Uhhhh... UHHHHH!" Peeta is now frantically throwing out his hips, thrusting them into my face. I can feel his organ continue to expand, to grow, inside my mouth, and my jaw muscles begin to ache even more at the effort it takes to accommodate him. He is vibrating, starting at his tip and then past my lips and down his length, before proceeding to his whole body. He's really close! I resolve to keep sucking him until he bursts; I'm actually curious to feel what his semen tastes like...
Unfortunately, I don't get the chance. I feel a palm suddenly on my chin, pushing me back and out. I let myself be extracted from him, coughing up spittle as I collapse to the water-soaked tiles. Above me, Peeta has covered himself with a washcloth, pumping his own shaft now before his whole body suddenly seizes, quivers, then relaxes.
I shakily stand. I don't know why, but I eye him warily. Is he pleased with the gift I gave him? Or will he be upset?
"We might as well get it out of the way now..." I am cut off as Peeta suddenly grabs me, lifts me off my feet and staggers us into the glass wall of the shower. His lips crash against mine, and I curl my mouth into a smile, twitching it deeper into his so I can better taste the semen residue lingering there; he must have licked his fingers clean afterwards. The warm water flows over our intertwined bodies like butter. At long last, I pull away.
"All right," I almost laugh. "No more kissing. We don't want to wake Prim."
Smiling and blushing like schoolchildren, we exit the shower and dress in silence. I finish ahead of Peeta and quickly throw together a tea downstairs in the kitchen, as breakfast. Downing my cup, I present Peeta with his as he comes down the steps.
We emerge through the front door and immediately turn in two different directions along the path: he for the bakery, I for the woods.
"Wait!" I turn back around just in time for Peeta to take me in his arms and kiss my lips. Framing his face, I return it. It is odd how quickly I have become accustomed to kissing this young man. "Have a good day at work."
I smirk, amused at his reference to my very dangerous, and very illegal, line of business as 'work.' "You too."
Still being the middle of winter, I don't catch much by way of game that day. But then again, I didn't expect to, and it just means I can return home to Daddy and Prim that much faster. I make another herbal tea for Daddy and administer it to him in his bed before waking my baby sister at last. Dressing her, I bring her down to the kitchen before giving her another cup of tea. I have set aside some meat for us, but it won't be cooked and ready until supper. By the time I leave with Prim for school, the sun is climbing steadily over the horizon.
After dropping Prim off, I circle back around to the Hob and trade what little game I have. I come out with a few coins and actually one squirrel extra. This surprises me; perhaps I've had less buy-in on my wares due to folks stocking up for the winter. I decide to stop by the bakery on my way home. The Baker likes my squirrels and always trades a fair price for them.
Entering through the back alley, I knock on the rear door just off the loading dock. I pray that the Baker's witch of a wife doesn't answer. Thankfully, it is not she who comes to the door, nor her husband. It is my husband who greets me. Peeta lights up.
"What are you doing here?"
"I have an extra squirrel I need to trade. Your father -"
"They're his favorite!" Peeta grins. "Wait here." He slips back inside, before returning and presenting me with a few more coins.
"Thanks. A fair trade!" I actually grin.
"Not quite." Before I can get his meaning, Peeta grabs my face and presses his lips to mine. I melt against him and moan. What is happening to me? Not even 48 hours ago, I would have promptly decked any man who tried to force his lips down my throat. Now, I'm openly kissing the Baker's son in broad daylight!
"Mmmmm... We can't do this!" I gasp breathlessly as I pull away. "Your mother..."
"... is in the office, working the books. She won't see," Peeta growls with lust. I whimper, and I feel liquid begin to soak the spot between my legs. Unable to argue with that kind of logic, I yank Peeta back to me and we kiss again.
Touching each other, however, is a far more cautious endeavor. Like this morning, it is really an exercise in exploration, but in this moment, we are more tender. Peeta runs his hands through my hair, ghosts them down my breasts. He even cups one in his hands and gives it a squeeze, as though it is the dough he has handled all his life. I groan in pleasure. "Hmmmm..."
Taking his other hand, I guide it to my waist, and then encourage him to grope lower, caressing my bum. In perfect harmony, I brush my hands over his hard erection, straining through his pants. I clasp it through the fabric, and am satisfied when my husband growls, pulling me flush against him before brazenly humping me.
We experiment with each other for a few more minutes like this, slowly but surely learning what each of us likes and doesn't like. At last, I cut it off, uncoupling my lips from Peeta's with a small pop.
"I have to get this game back home. And then pick up Prim from school!"
"Mother will be wondering where I am." He touches my arm as I turn to head out of the alley. I'm already afraid someone has seen us; forbidden love and a hidden marriage are not secrets that I am confident I will maintain. "Meet you at home for dinner?"
I find myself smiling at this, touched that he now refers to my home as his, too. "A wife needs her husband home for meals. Don't be late." My flirtation shocks even me, as I have never been a flirtatious person in my life.
Peeta laughs and I turn to go. "Katniss!" I spin back. "I love you."
I stand stock-still, frozen, stunned over what he has just said. If I had any lingering belief that this was a marriage predicated on economic alliances, that is gone now. Especially as I find myself saying, "I love you, too." The words sound almost foreign, both to my own ears and the fact that it is I who has uttered them. I feel as though I am underwater. Flushing red, I sprint up the path for home, my thoughts a jumbled mess that I am unwilling to sort out until later.
Will this marriage be about love? Will Peeta and I become even more romantically involved? Will there come a time where we fall into a routine that any loving husband and wife shares? Might I even give birth to his children one day? Even now, I have the strangest feeling that I inherently know the answer to all four inquiries, and the answers are terrifying and exhilarating all at once.