A/N: Here is my second crack at Whatever It Takes, told from Peeta's perspective. I've never gotten so many hits from a story before. It just goes to show that sex sells (:. This is still short, I might add filler, but I've got a few other things up my sleeve so we'll see what happens. Please continue to review, it really brightens up my day. Enjoy!

WHATEVER IT TAKES
Chapter 2: Peeta

By: The Scarletclad Mage

She doesn't want to be alone tonight. She doesn't even let me leave to take a shower and wash this ridiculous makeup off. Cinna has done a phenomenal job on her as usual. Seeing her in that beautiful white wedding dress makes me wish the slew of lies I told on camera is true so badly that it hurts. Even still, this dark mockingjay that he turned her into is so classically Katniss. Beautiful and dangerous. The seed of the revolution. God, I wish I could be there after the Games to look out for her. The thought of being torn from her is almost more than I can bear. But what alternative do I have? Both of surviving was a fluke that will not be repeated this time around. She thinks she is going to die this time. She is actively going to work against me to spare her life. My love, this is one battle you can never win. I am going to save her at any cost. Whatever it takes.

She pulls me into her room. She still hasn't said anything about the whole pregnancy thing. I don't know what I expect her to say anyway. I go to wash my face in the bathroom and change into something to sleep in that I find in one of Katniss's drawers. After I am clean and dressed, I walk in to see that she is calmly sitting on the bed, still fully dressed and staring out the window absentmindedly.

"I can't reach the buttons," she turns and says in a low voice. "Will you do it?" I sit behind her on the bed to try to figure out the complexities of women's clothing. I manage to find the buttons she is talking about, a long row of tiny black pearls winding down her spine. I undo the first two and am suddenly overwhelmed by the sight of the creamy skin of her back. It's silly, considering that I've made love to her already once. Other than that, we've slept together innocently several times so her body is not unfamiliar to me. She just looks so fragile and vulnerable with the buttons of this dress half undone down her back. Like I was catching of glimpse of what she would be like if she hadn't had such an oppressive life. I know my nights are numbered, each second is precious. I can't help myself. I lean in and undo another button, then place my lips feather-light where the button exposed her skin. She smells intoxicating. I continue to unbutton her in this way, achingly slowly, savoring every second. When I get to the last button, she is still sitting perfectly still. I'm not sure what to think. But she hasn't pushed me away yet so I decide to go bolder to test her reaction to me. I move closer and kiss the nape of her neck softly, pulling the long pins that hold up her elaborate hairstyle until her dark hair falls curling in waves down her shoulders. I think I hear a soft sigh…

Suddenly she stands up, clutching the bodice of her dress to her so it will not fall off. Did I go too far? Obviously. Is she wishing I am Gale instead? Probably. Am I doomed to forever be shunted to the friend category, a victim of unrequited love for the rest of time?

Definitely.

Let's not get dramatic here. If she doesn't want me, I'm not going to force myself on her. I love her too much for that. If she wants me to just hold her tonight like all the other times, I will do that and be thankful. In the last moments of the Games, after we have killed everyone else and I am bleeding to death from a self-inflicted stab wound, I will be thinking of this night until the end. Katniss in the wedding gown she was supposed to wear to be my bride. My diamond.

She turns back to face me and stands right in front of me. She shrugs once and the gown seems to slide off of her in slow motion. She is left wearing this little black slip and an expression on her face that I can't read.

It takes everything I have not to grab her right now. I look at her face with what I am hoping is a pious-like expression.

She closes the distance between us by straddling me with those long legs of hers and kissing me roughly. I guess I was supposed to grab her after all. I'm too numb with shock to really think about it, so I don't and just run my hands along her back, feeling her muscles tensing up at my touch. She's kissing me hard, harder than we have kissed before. I realize that she is kissing me like this because she expects to die in the arena. Ordinarily this type of thinking from her gets me angry, but it's hard to get upset when Katniss has tangled her hands in your hair. No matter. Two can play at this game. This is our very last night of privacy, maybe my last night of life. I am going to make it count.

I roll her over with ease and strip off my shirt. She runs her hands over my chest immediately, playfully tweaking a nipple in the same way I did to her that one time. I can also feel her subtly raising her hips to meet mine. My reaction is inevitable and she smiles with triumph underneath me. I grab her arms and pin them above her head, feeling her tensing with apprehension. I kiss down her neck until I'm kissing right above the swell of her right breast. I kiss her breast slowly on the fabric, everywhere but avoiding the center, and watch her nipple slowly harden through the thin material. I know she wants me to go faster, she is making that clear by grinding a little harder on me, but I am resisting her and making her wait for it this time. I give the second breast the same treatment until both nipples are so sensitive that when I breathe on one, she gives the softest of frustrated moans. Taking this as my cue, I jerk the neckline down and suck as hard as I can while at the same time reaching up the slip to press lightly on her clit. The combination of sensations makes her cry out. I smile to myself.

This is what it would have been like on our wedding night, I think to myself as I work my fingers under her slip. We might have actually tried for a child in a different life. The thought makes me forlornly sad. I could already see her daughter in my mind's eye, fiery with the same silver gray eyes as her mother. I wish I could meet her. Maybe I wouldn't have to die to save her in a different life.

I am shaken from my train of thought with Katniss sidling out from underneath me with feline fluidity. A brief wrestling match leaves us both without a stitch of clothing and me suddenly on my back with her mouth wrapped around my hardness.

For someone that has done this maybe twice, she sure knows what she's doing. It feels so amazing that I am having trouble stringing words together to try to tell her. I also make the mistake of actually looking down at her between my legs and very nearly lose it. After a while of resisting, I am bucking up with her stroking shamelessly. I think she is about to finish me off, but she crawls up to kiss my face and doesn't let her body touch mine.

Agony.

She whispers something in my ear that I can't understand. "Love me," she says again. "Love me, Peeta."

I've always loved you, I want to say, but I know that isn't what she means. She always gets uncomfortable when I try to tell her how I feel. This isn't making love for her like it is for me. This is sex for Katniss. No matter. If sex is what she needs tonight, I will do it for her.

I insert a finger inside and hear her sigh. She kisses me harder when I start to move that finger deeper so I add another. I am painfully rock-hard. I flip her on her back to get a better position, my fingers never stopping the rhythm. I know she's ready for me now.

Without really missing a beat, I slide myself in. She squirms a little, so I wait for a moment for her to get used to the feeling. I roll my hips, watching her face closely. When she gasps out loud, I know I've found her sweet spot and my target. At this point, I am tired of holding back. This is my last time. I want her to remember this, to remember me. I want to forget tomorrow. I want to make her forget tomorrow. There is nothing left for us but this moment. I want to live today.

She doesn't want my gentleness right now. We move like the desperate, tormented souls that we both are. Her fingernails leave trails on my back. It's so different this time.

Afterwards, she turns her back to me and drapes my arm over her. Her hair is in my face. It smells like lilies and sweat. She falls asleep quickly, the usual when we sleep together. I can't sleep. I lie awake in the night, holding her and unwilling to let sleep overtake me. I know I can't keep Katniss. Hell, I couldn't even keep her before we knew about going back into the arena. I know I'm on borrowed time, lying with her on this bed. I just wish I could die knowing for sure what she thinks about me. I want this to be real not around the cameras. I wish she could understand that this was never about settling a debt between us.

I love her. And I am going to save her. Even if it means fighting her in the end. Even if it means making her hate me. When those trumpets sound at the end of the Games, Katniss will the one left standing. I am going to make sure of it.

Whatever it takes.