"W-what?" Katniss stuttered, staring up at Peeta with wide eyes.

Even before she and Peeta consummated their relationship, she hadn't been completely innocent to the variety of carnal acts that occur inside of the marriage bed. She heard the whispers and giggles at school about what happens at the slag heap. She'd even seen a forbidden photo or two on display at the The Hob— limbs and hands and parts in places that made her turn away from the booth, hot with embarrassment and something else.

But what Peeta had just suggested...it was…

"Isn't that disgusting?" she blurted out, squeezing her eyes shut when Peeta searched her face with disbelief. "You really want to do that?"

"Disgusting?" he repeated, his surprised tone melting into a low chuckle. She turned red at his amusement and sat up a little on her elbows to glare at him.

"Don't laugh at me." She frowned, her face burning. Her fingers clenched reflexively around the material of the comforter, looking for support. Peeta shook his head, his lips still quirked upward.

"Shh," he said soothingly, rubbing a warm hand on her thigh. "I'm not. You're just so pure, Katniss."

Katniss bristled.

"How would you even know how to do that?" She looked at him in suspicion, her heart beating faster. The idea of him kissing another girl at all, let alone there-!

Well, she hated it. She clenched her teeth and waited in silence.

"I've never done it before, if that's what you mean," he said in an even voice. "I told you I was a virgin, too."

"Then how?"

"You forget I have two brothers." He leaned over her and brushed his lips high on her cheekbone, and she shivered. "There's never been anyone but you in my bed, Katniss. There never will be anyone but you."

She felt immediately calm at his words, which is why it surprised her even more when he held her chin in his hands, suddenly forcing her to look at him. "Are you jealous?"

"No-" Katniss started, flustered. But then, why lie? "Yes. Maybe," she conceded, biting her lip at the admission of her weakness.

It's fine to feel this way, she told herself. Peeta is my best friend. No. My husband.

It was valid to wonder about who came before her, especially considering that Katniss was certain she knew almost everything there was to know about him. She'd always been possessive of what was hers, a remnant of a meager, tragic childhood. But the Sundays she had spent with Gale— well, who knew what Peeta had been up to?

"I know I shouldn't but I- I kind of adore it," he admitted, nuzzling her hair. "It's a start, at least."

"A start?" she questioned, breathless when his hand inched up her leg, toying with the edge her nightgown.

"To us," he replied absently, his thumb rubbing a pattern on the smooth skin of her thigh. "To what I want. To how I want you to feel about me," he said, distracted when she parted her thighs almost involuntarily.

"You want me to be jealous?" Katniss asked, her doubtful voice edging out into a low moan when his fingers stroked perilously close to the juncture of her thighs.

She watched as he slowly moved backward down her body, kissing his way down her face, her neck, the exposed skin of an arm, and finally her thigh. He started to push her nightgown up to gather around her hips, and with one nod from Katniss, her plain white panties were slipped down her legs.

Once again, she was completely exposed to Peeta. A part of her was mortified, but the burning part, the insistent tingling in her abdomen, ached for relief.

And Peeta was looking at her like she was the queen of Panem.

"No." He dragged his gaze away from her body for a moment, pinning her with his stare. "I want you to love me," he said with honest eyes, and then his head dipped between her legs.

The first touch of Peeta's tongue against the most intimate part of her wrought pure, unadulterated bliss down her spine. She had never in her life felt anything so decadent as the moist tip of his tongue licking delicate stripes against her lower lips, his fingers carefully holding them apart to find the most tender flesh beneath.

"Oh my- oh," she moaned, her hips jerking as his mouth pulled at her with a warm, insistent suction, his tongue flicking at the sensitive, throbbing bud at her center.

She stared at the ceiling, the faded white of the molding burning into her irises even in the dimness of the room, and she panted like an animal as he worked on her with his mouth. She couldn't speak, couldn't make a human noise. It was too much, it wasn't enough. It was everything.

"P-Peeta," she tried to stammer, her hand finding his hair shakily. He stopped and looked up, his mouth wet with her. Katniss was stunned by the sight, his blonde waves sticking every which way, his cheeks flushed, his blue eyes feral and fascinated.

"That's it," he urged, nuzzling her mound with his nose. He looked pleased, and she was suffering. "Let go."

"It's too much," she whimpered, unconcerned with how pitiful she sounded.

"It's not." Peeta gave her a heated, intense look, and then his thumb took the place of his tongue on her- her clit. That's the word she had heard in the girl's washroom at school. She groaned again as he carefully flicked at the place, looking a little uncertain until her mouth dropped and her eyes rolled back in her head. He smiled and kissed her inner thigh. "Oh Katniss, it's not."

He lowered his head and suckled again, and her back bowed off the bed with the onslaught of his tongue and fingers against her. Katniss felt a storm gathering, an intense need that had been building since last night, maybe longer, and her legs started to shake as Peeta slipped his arms under her thighs, anchoring her to him as he licked at her with noisy, messy swipes, humming in satisfaction when she shouted out her pleasure into the quiet darkness of the room.

Tomorrow she'd be embarrassed and wonder if anyone had heard her. But right then….right then...

It happened.

"Peeta," Katniss cried, gripping his hair with one hand while the other clutched blindly at the bedpost behind her.

It was as if lightning had struck directly from Peeta's tongue to her flesh. She felt paralyzed as the orgasm crashed over her, her legs stiffening and her mouth freezing into an 'o' where only the most basic of garbled curses stuttered out of her lips.

Her body unclenched from its bowed arch, and she collapsed and melted into the bed. A pure, delicious buzz of exhausted relief thrummed through her.

So that was an orgasm. She wanted them forever.

Katniss was only vaguely aware of Peeta's gentle licks cleaning her up between her legs and ushering her out of her release until she suddenly became too sensitive for any more touch.

"No more," she moaned breathlessly, and he looked up at her.

She tugged him upward by the shoulder, and when he landed next to her on the bed, she clutched his face between her hands and kissed him. Her eyes fluttered opened, and she saw that his were wide open, a look of pure emotion pouring back at her as she flicked her tongue at the seam of his lips, a little artless and base, but his mouth slipped open to accept her anyway. She noticed a musky, tart taste on his lips, and realized with a start that it was her.

She pulled away with a soft smack, but he dropped two more kisses on her lips before gently pushing her back down onto the pillow. He reached between them to tug down the nightgown that had pooled around her waist by then, and she decided she didn't care much about her panties at all. She could barely even move.

Peeta stroked her cheek and pushed a damp strand of hair behind her ear. "How do you feel?" he asked in a soft, questioning voice, his eyes searching her face almost anxiously. "Was that okay? I can do better next-"

"I feel wonderful." She was practically slurring with exhaustion. "Peeta, you are wonderful."

He chuckled and pulled her to his chest. She felt boneless as he held her to him. "I've wanted to do that to you for as long I can remember."

"Mmm," she said, reaching up and petting at his hair with sleepy hands. "You can do it whenever you want."

"Really?" The quiet surprise in the word was unmistakable.

"You're my husband," she murmured nonsensically, and then she was out like a light.

She gave him a coy look under her eyelashes, her cheeks burning when he locked eyes with her over a loaf of bread that he'd carted out fresh from the back. His mother had all but banished Katniss from the kitchen when she made a mess of her first batch of muffins, and Mr. Mellark had tactfully suggested that she learn the business of the storefront first.

"Everything all right?" Peeta asked, leaning forward and brushing his lips against hers.

"Peeta!" She cast a glance around them in the busy bakery, but all she received in return were amused looks from the regulars.

"What?" he teased, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're my wife and I can kiss you whenever I want, remember?"

She scowled, finding it hard to keep her lips from turning up at the corners. "Flirt."

"I don't know how on earth you two are going to run this place after we retire," Mrs. Mellark hissed as she bustled by, giving them baleful looks from her watery eyes. "Not when you can't keep your hands off each other. It's disgraceful."

"All thanks to you, Mother," Peeta said cheerfully, walking backward toward the kitchen. "Have I thanked you lately for making Katniss marry me?" The doors swung shut behind him, giving him the last word.

"That boy," his mother muttered under her breath, taking a coin from the candle maker in return for a dozen chocolate chip cookies. "I'm glad he's your problem now."

"Me, too," Katniss snapped, wiping her hands on her apron. "Now hand me a loaf of rye."

The rest of the morning passed quickly, the bustle of weekend business keeping them hopping. She continued to sneak intermittent moments with Peeta under the annoyed, watchful eye of Mrs. Mellark until the noon day lunch break.

"I should go," she told Peeta after quickly eating a sandwich he put together for her. She untied her apron and hung it on a hook that already had Katniss labeled above it. It gave her a queer little thrill to see it emblazoned there so permanently, like she's a fact that can't be erased from Peeta's life. "I told Grandmother I'd be at the apothecary this afternoon. She wants to teach me how to make a few new medicinal brews."

"Sounds good," he said, clearing away their plates. "I'll see you tonight, then."

Katniss' eyebrows furrowed together until she remembered- she's married to this boy. She'll be going home to him every night, for the rest of their lives.

"I suppose. If I don't run away first." Peeta blanched, and her eyes widened. "Peeta. I was only kidding. You know that."

"Sure." He turned away and started to wash their dishes, his back to her.

Katniss walked forward and placed her hand on his back. "It wasn't a funny joke, was it?"

"No," he agreed quietly, turning his head to look at her over his shoulder. Peeta smiled wryly. "I think I'll take that brand of humor a little better on our ten year anniversary. Not a few days after you've been forced into doing something you didn't want to do."

"Hey." She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I admit it. I was scared at first. Still am, to be honest. And...I might have a problem with authority a bit."

He smiled at this.

"I hated that our families orchestrated our lives like this," Katniss continued. "But I can't regret promising to love my best friend forever."

"Me neither," he said, kissing her.

The bell above the door jingled, signifying a new customer.

"I'll be right with you," Katniss said without looking up from her work. She lined up her knife to carefully cut a bundle of herbs.

"Catnip."

She slipped, slicing deeply into her finger.

"Hell," she swore, putting her mouth to the wound. She quickly backed away from the cutting station, not wanting to contaminate the costly materials.

Gale was by her side in only a moment. "Here," he said, tearing off a strip of material from his shirt. "Use this."

She shook her head and walked to the small sink in the corner. "I don't want to infect it. I have some clean gauze in the back."

"Of course," he said, his expression a shade away from mockery. "I don't want to get you filthy."

Katniss narrowed her eyes at him, exasperated and bleeding. "It's not like that, Gale. It's just the basics of healing."

She disappeared into the back, her hand trailing over boxes and containers until she found what she was looking for. She quickly wrapped a length of gauze around her finger and secured it in place with a bit of tape. She turned and almost shouted with surprise when she saw Gale right behind her.

"You can't be back here, Gale."

"I remember a time when you wouldn't have cared," he countered, leaning against the archway of the storage room.

"Things are different. Just...stop. Whatever you're doing right now, you need to stop before it begins."

He stepped forward, his nostrils flaring. "You married him, Catnip. Fucking hell!"

"I told you I was."

"But so soon! And- I didn't think you'd really…" His shoulders slumped and he looked away, his eyes focusing on a shelf lined with empty vials.

"Well, I did," Katniss said, not unkindly. "And it's not changing. Not ever."

"Are you happy?" he asked, the fire in his eyes subdued as he met her stare.

"I'm content. I love Peeta." She didn't relish the pain on her friend's face, but she knew she had to be blunt. That she couldn't give him any reason to hope, because it wouldn't be fair to him, or to Peeta. "This wasn't my choice, but I'm not unhappy."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It's enough," she replied. "And now you have to leave."

The defeat went out of his posture. "Why?" he sneered, crossing his arms. "He wouldn't like it? Can't we even be friends?"

"Peeta would like it just fine," she said calmly, brushing by him and walking back to the storefront. Her finger throbbed, and she just wanted to be done with this conversation. "He doesn't have a problem with you. In fact, you're invited to the toasting this coming Friday."

Gale's mouth fell open. "You...I-" he sputtered.

She sighed and leaned against the counter, her eyes taking on a pleading glint. "It would mean so much if you would be there," she said. "Please, you're one of my oldest friends. One of my only friends. I want your whole family to come. There will be cake-"

"I will never come to your toasting," he interrupted, his eyes going flat. "I don't need your cake, or your pity invite."

"That's not what this is!"

They stared at each other, a tense standoff. Gale broke first, his chest heaving.

"I was wrong," he said abruptly. "He may be fine with us being friends, but I don't think I can do it." He squeezed his hand into a fist. "Maybe...maybe someday."

"Gale." She looked at him in shock.

Gale shook his head. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Mellark." And then he left, leaving her wondering when she'd see him again.

She stood there, motionless, until the sound of footsteps broke her from her trance.

"That was really bad," Prim said, her voice small.

Katniss whirled around. "You heard that?" She looked at her little sister with a contrite expression. "It was— Gale's just upset, is all."

"Because he's in love with you," she said simply.

Katniss busied herself at the counter, going back to the task of chopping herbs after rinsing off the knife. "He thinks he is."

"Peeta's really great."

Katniss frowned at the abrupt subject change. "I know."

"So don't mess it up." Prim walked over and peered at her sister's face. "I don't think he should know Gale was here. Maybe wait a little while."

"I don't want to lie to him."

"Maybe...don't lie. Just don't tell everything."

Katniss laughed despite herself, laying down the knife. "I'll think about it." She ruffled Prim's hair, watching the blonde strands dance in the afternoon light. "But I don't want to hide things from him, even if it's an uncomfortable truth."

Prim huffed and looked at the ceiling. "I thought you'd say that."

"Slow down," Peeta said, chuckling. He watched her eat with a rapt expression, his own food growing cold. "I'm worried you're going to choke."

"I can't." Katniss chased a piece of deer sausage around a chipped, porcelain plate with the tines of a dented fork, coating the meat with white gravy flecked with black pepper. "This is incredible, Peeta."

He flushed with pleasure at compliment, looking away and studying the faded walls. "I've cooked for you before."

"Not like this." She chewed with great relish before speaking again. "Only snacks and cookies and things. This is a proper grown-up meal."

"I'll cook for you every night." Peeta took a bite of his own food and pulled an unsatisfied face. He reached for the mismatched salt and pepper shakers that her grandmother had given them, and shook them over his food with careful precision. He reached over to sprinkle the seasonings over her plate as well, but she smacked his hand away. "It might not be fine or fancy, but you'll never go hungry when I'm around."

He watched as Katniss sopped up a puddle of gravy with a small roll and laughed at her crestfallen face when the roll disappeared in two bites.

Her bottom lip jutted out. "It's so good."

"Here," Peeta said, jumping to his feet and retrieving a basket covered with a blue checkered cloth. He placed it in front of her with a flourish, pulling back the cloth and releasing a warm rush of fragrant steam into the air. "Eat all you want, wife."

She paused but didn't comment. He'd been slipping in the word as an endearment all night, spoken once with experimental caution, but then repeated often, as if he found it pleasing on his tongue. It wasn't hurting anyone, so why stop him? And, it was true. She was his wife. The small allowance also lessened her guilt over Gale's visit just the tiniest bit. She'd wavered on broaching the subject all day, but her sister had gotten into her head, and Peeta was in such a good mood- why ruin it?

"Grandmother has been cooking for a thousand years, and she's nowhere near as good as you," she told him after the meal was finished, sitting back and patting her stomach. "You did magic with only a few ingredients."

He shrugged and cleared their plates, walking them over to the kitchen sink. "Had to make do growing up. The bakery does well compared to other places, but there were plenty of lean years of stale rolls and scrawny chickens. My parents would be so tired from the bakery that they'd let my brothers and I take over some nights." He turned his hide and shot her a smile, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. "After a long day in front of the ovens, Duff and Mill hated dinner duty. So of course the task fell to me, the oft-bullied baby brother."

She scowled behind his back. "They treated you terribly."

"It's the way of brothers."

Katniss stood and walked up next to him, drying the dishes with a small hand towel. "Well, I don't like it. Our children would nev-"

He paused, the water trickling over a cup in his hand.

"It was a slip of the tongue," she rushed to say, tripping over herself to explain.

She found herself suddenly airborne, Peeta's large hands leaving behind two slightly damp spots on her waist as he lifted her onto the counter. He leaned in until they were practically nose to nose, and his wiped his hands on his pants before placing them on her shoulders.

"I know," he told her, matter-of-fact. "I can see you panicking, and I won't have it. I didn't read anything into what you said except that you're a protective, loving person."

"But you want children. I don't."

"I want you," Peeta said, touching her cheek. She blushed, and he continued, "I can't say it any plainer than that. I love you, Katniss. And I'd be lying if I said that my heart didn't just about stop a minute ago, thinking about babies with you. But I can live without them. All right?"

She exhaled. "All right."

He gave her a skeptical look and patted her thigh. "Now, just sit right here and keep me company while I finish up." He leaned over and rifled through another basket on the counter.

"But-"

A cookie was popped into her mouth. She stopped talking.

"How was your day?" he asked, his thumb rubbing circles on the top of her hand. It was dark in the warm hush of their room, and they had been lying in comfortable near-silence after Peeta told her a funny story about the butcher's wife slipping in front of the bakery.

Katniss tensed. "It wasn't bad. I learned how to make a salve for sulfur burns."

"Mhmm. Tell me about it."

She turned her head, her eyebrow raised at him. "You want to hear about salve?"

"I want to hear about you," he said, gazing up at the ceiling. Katniss couldn't make out all of his features in the dark, but she could hear the smile in his voice. It made her chest ache in a way she couldn't explain.

"I saw Gale today."

His thumb paused, and then made its rounds again on her skin. "I know."

Katniss pulled away and sat straight up, holding the covers to her chest. "What?" She gaped at him, squinting into the dark. "You knew the whole time?"

"Yes," Peeta admitted, sitting up as well. His blonde hair glinted in the moonlight streaming through the window behind the bed. "I saw him from the bakery window."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't you?" he countered, taking her hand to soften the blunt sting of his words.

"I don't rightly know." She sighed, her shoulders dropping. "I was- I was scared. I didn't want to upset you. I know Gale isn't your favorite topic, and things are still so new."

He was quiet for a moment. "Would you feel okay with telling me what he wanted?"

"Me, I think," Katniss said honestly. "He was mad about our marriage. Wanted to talk me out of it again. But Peeta," she continued, feeling the stiffness of his fingers, "I set him straight."

"Is he coming to the toasting?"

"I invited him," she said. "But he made it clear he wasn't interested." There was a silence so long that she had to ask, "Are you upset with me?"

"Oh, Katniss. Of course not. I'm just..." He trailed off and laid back down on the bed, and she followed suit. They turned to face each other, and it seemed so unbearably intimate that she almost wanted to turn away. "I guess I'm worried he got to you. That all of this will go away."

"No," she said firmly, scooting closer. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek, and even in the dark she could count almost every one of his golden eyelashes from this close of a distance. "I'm not going anywhere, Peeta."

He looked at her with solemn blue eyes. "Promise?"

She kissed him in reply, their lips meeting with a soft smack.

The next morning, she bustled around the kitchen, and Peeta watched with amusement as she attempted to make eggs for him.

"I can help," he said, laughing when she frowned down at little white pieces of shell floating in her mixing bowl of yolk and egg whites.

"No." She pointed at him with a spatula. "I'm doing this. Sunday morning breakfast is going to my thing."

"Sure," he agreed with a smile a hair too cheeky for her liking.

"Look here-"

A loud series of knocks stopped their banter, and Peeta answered the door after Katniss held up her hands dripping with yolk.

"Hi! It's me," Prim squeaked, her rounded cheeks glowing pink.

"It's my favorite little sister! Come in, come in," Peeta greeted her cheerfully, ushering her inside. "Good morning, Primrose."

She practically danced in place, her hands fluttering in excitement. "I'm your only little sister."

"Lucky me," he said with a grin, ruffling her hair. "You're just in time for Katniss' special Sunday morning breakfast."

Prim look around the small kitchen doubtfully, taking in her sister's harried expression and wild bed hair. "Can't you do it?" she asked him.

"Little traitor." Katniss glared at her with mock accusation, dropping the spatula onto the counter. "You'll get nothing but water and tea leaves from me." She looked at Peeta. "I give up."

"Aww." He walked over and kissed her cheek, chuckling at her pitiful expression. "How about egg toast with cinnamon syrup? Will that make you feel better?"

"Maybe."

"Please, please," Prim chanted, jumping up and down. "Oh! Katniss." She dug around the pockets of her long skirt and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope. "This came for you this morning. Hand-delivered and everything."

Katniss wiped her hands on a tea towel and took it with a quizzical expression. She didn't often get mail, especially the kind stamped with an official Capitol seal. "Thanks."

"Forgot to tell you. I got one of those, too," Peeta said, tilting his head. "Came yesterday on the mail cart. Remember that test we had to take a while back? It's just our scores, and a thank you for being the first experimental class. Very generic." He handed an apron to Prim. "I guess they're going to add it as standardized testing."

"Oh." She frowned down at the envelope, and a feeling of unrest washed over her.

Katniss watched for a moment as Peeta taught Prim how to make egg toast before informing them she was going to get dressed. They waved her off, their blonde heads bent together over the counter.

Once she was in the bedroom, she quickly dressed and re-braided her hair after washing up. She kept eyeing the letter she had dropped on the bed, before finally picking it up. The Capitol set her on edge, and being on their radar wasn't usually something to be desired. The whole idea of failing whatever standards they had put into place with a surprise test made her feel itchy.

She started to read, and her mouth dropped open in shock.

Katniss Mellark,

Congratulations. You have been selected as part of the District Star Squad Program. Due to your high testing scores and unique skills, we would like to offer you an elite placement amongst the ranks of other brilliant minds like yours.

Below, you will find the details of your District relocation, should you accept our exciting offer. As a Capitol citizen, you would enjoy such benefits as...

Katniss quickly scanned the contents with wide eyes, and she grew cold as she reached the bottom.

Your recent marriage status has changed- never fear! As a Star Squad member, the Capitol offers you a complete, no-fault dissolution, and your partner will be well compensated for the inconvenience.

Please respond within seven days time. We look forward to your acceptance, Katniss Mellark.

Panem Today, Panem Tomorrow, Panem Forever,

The Capitol

At the behest of President Snow

Thank you to my beta, the awesome and incomparable Shannon. All mistakes are mine.

I'm peetaspenis on tumblr. Come hang out. :)