Chapter 9: Trades Must Be Fair

Dean's victory celebration and final interview with Caesar Flickerman go by in a blur. Before I know it, I am on the train home and accompanied for the first time in a decade and a half. Dean is silent the whole way back; he seems almost sour. I begin to fear if I can control my new Victor. He cannot show so much anger, and especially not at the Capitol; Snow and his minions would only destroy such machinations.

As the train pulls into the District 12 station, I look out the windows to see it is the most packed it has been since I returned from my first win in the 74th Games. People are crowding the platform, and many more have taken to climbing the rooftops just to get a glimpse of their brand-new Victor - only our homeland's fourth overall.

As soon as the doors open, hands grab for Dean and yank him into the crowd. I quickly follow, not wanting to let my apprentice out of my sight, but I am intercepted. By Peeta.

"Katniss! You did it! YOU WON! I knew you could do it! I just knew you could!" He picks me up and spins me around. I find myself shrieking with delighted laughter, flinging my arms around his neck to keep from going flying. At last, the Baker sets me down. We eye each other and exchange small smiles. For my part, I am relieved. Gone are the cool interactions from before the Reaping.

"Welcome home," Peeta smiles. Something about his gaze is unusually intense, even behind that blinding smile, and I glance away... to see that Peacekeepers are beginning to load canvasses onto the train. The images depicted are ones I recognize. I turn back to Peeta, confused.

"Your paintings..."

He shrugs. "I sold them to the Capitol."

"But... how? Why?" And then it all clicks. "The money you got from it... that went to helping Dean, didn't it? That's how the funds were raised so quickly."

Peeta's eyes flit away, and he nods almost guiltily. I stare down at the ground, my eyes filling up with tears. Overwhelmed is all that can be used to describe what I feel at this moment.

"Come here," I get out, emotional, my voice cracking. Taking Peeta's hand, I drag him through the crowd, then away from it. Away from anyone who might see or be nosy. I don't stop until I reach the back alley behind the Mellark Bakery.

"Katniss, what are you...? Mmmm!"

I pull Peeta's face down to mine and silence him with the most passionate kiss I can muster. It only takes a moment before I feel Peeta's lips press back into my own. He ghost his tongue over my lower lip, and I open to him. His tongue slithers past my teeth and intertwines with mine.

"Hmmmmmmmmm..." I moan sensuously, closing my eyes as I encircle my arms about Peeta's waist and pull him close. Sparks heat my hips that Peeta now clutches in his hands. I feel hot, almost burning, though strangely I feel cool only in the space between my legs, now flooded by my juices.

Curious, even if a little self-conscious (Peeta's only the second man I've ever kissed), I slink one hand past Peeta's waistline. I clasp his length through his pants, between my fingers. I awkwardly pump his shaft, almost mortified over how poor of a job I must be doing.

So it comes as a complete shock when Peeta growls into my mouth. His nails dig into my hips and he suddenly thrusts his pelvis into mine, gallingly humping my center.

"Mmmmm! Mmmmm!" My squeals are muffled by our deepening kiss, and I spring out of our locked embrace, retracing my hand. "OK... let's... just stick with kissing... for now..."

Peeta smiles, as if he had predicted I would react this way to such a sensation. Cupping his hands around my face, rubbing his thumb along my cheeks, he leans in. My eyes droop closed, and our lips meet once more. I drape my arms languidly about Peeta's neck, smiling into the kiss.

And as I kiss this man, and as Peeta kisses me back just as enthusiastically, I thank every star above for my Baker-turned-new-lover. For paintings. For the tribute my paramour saved with those paintings. Oh yeah, and for cheese buns.