Disclaimer: All Hunger Games characters and core personality traits are the property of SC. I own nothing, nor do I plan on profiting from using her work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter Five
“That was the very pinnacle of foolishness…What you did out there,” Mellark intoned, a mixture of banter and foul temper ringing through his deep, controlled voice.
It had been countless silent minutes since Glimmer had made a furious exit from what Katniss knew now was the inner most corner of the large metal cornucopia; an intelligent makeshift shelter.
She guessed that Peeta was purposefully allowing the tension to build until it felt thick enough to replace any and all breathable air—and like most endeavors of the skilled career—he was unbearably successful in this regard. She hadn’t a fraction of the nerve needed to actually look at the terrifying alpha male, even as he continued his possessive caresses across her neck and collar.
Instead she spied carefully around, taking in as much of the field of vision available to her without the actual movement of shifting her head. A bank of supplies and weapons lined the walls of their resting place; swords, knives, survival blankets and the like. Her head span, unable to ascertain whether her proximity to such deadly objects was a blessing or a life-threatening risk.
Never in her thousands of miserable musings about The Games, all the darkest “what-ifs” that district children mull unwilling over in their heads, had she ever imagined herself in her current situation. Tributes from lowly districts like Twelve simply did not belong in the belly of the battle; the proud and comfortable territories that were quickly claimed by the districts of privilege and talent. When the impoverished, sickly kids from districts like hers managed to make it anywhere near the finial days of the competitions—a shocking rarity—it was always chance and avoidance that kept them alive.
On those petrifying occasions she’d pictured herself being called up into The Games and those tense nights she spent discussing strategy with Gale, the timid creature had always planed to play her luck as a dangerous fly on the arenas outskirts, invisible and mostly passive.
She wasn’t prepared to take on The Games as a hunter instead of a prey item. She wasn’t prepared for Peeta Mellark.
Her unspoken refusal to look at him was clearly not appreciated and his long, warm fingers snaked firmly around her throat and forced her gaze to meet his own.
Katniss nearly slammed her eyes shut in response. The boy’s face was so painfully striking that every corner of her mind rebelled against her desire to fear, to hate. It was yet another unfair advantage of a pristine killer; to see him, was to love him.
Katniss had a vague awareness of how difficult that particular predatory camouflage would be to defend herself against. She took some solace in the fact that she came from a community so desperate for basic survival that beauty was seen as a generally frivolous and unhelpful attribute.
“What were you thinking?” He demanded, more heat this time.
She still hadn’t decided on a strategy for interactions with her unlikely ally, what approach would yield the maxim degree of safety, but she was positively alarmed by the feelings of remorse that hit her when she realized she had displeased him; how something inside her innately disliked the slight crease of anxiety that appeared between two flawless honey toned brows.
Her own emotions sparked anger into her response. “I’m so helpless and confused that I ran into the fight instead of away from it,” she snapped, “Honest mistake of the feeble minded.”
She shrunk back minutely at his answering grin, sly and dangerous. His pale blue eyes flicked down at her lips and he moved his hand up her face until his thumb ran tenderly across the soft pink flesh there. The conflicted female trembled and prayed he hadn’t noticed.
“I have so many more productive uses for that smart mouth of yours,” Peeta leaned in to whisper. His breath fanned out across her face. “And you nearly went and ruined my fun by getting yourself killed in the first three minutes of The Games.”
A feeling heavy as lead seeped into Katniss’ muscles as she remembered the moments that had almost been her last. How easy it had been for her to nearly ruin everything in the very first seconds of her long journey to survival. The corners of her eyes stung at the idea of having let her mother and Prim down in such a horrifyingly quick manner. Little Prim, sweet and in a constant state of rose-colored optimism, who she was sure still believed Katniss would be coming home alive. Peeta’s too-true crack at her
immediate failure made the cold reality of leaving her loved ones alone in the hash world feel all the more likely and imminent.
Gale had promised her that he wouldn’t let them starve, but promises were hard to keep in District Twelve, no matter how strong the conviction with which they were made. Katniss knew Gale would one day want a family of his own and knew respectfully who he would feed if made to choose between his own wife and children or the family of his long dead friend.
The Seam beauty watched the career’s curious face, so close to her own, as he studied her carefully and was mortified when her vision began to blur with tears. The pinned female tried hard to jerk her jaw from his hold but he allowed her nothing. She instead closed her eyes tight and tried not to care when the pressure of her lids forced hot tears down her face.
The boy let out a sigh and leaned his forehead against her own. The sound held an essence of exasperation but he smoothed his hands across her cheeks, wiping away the wetness and holding her face between his large palms like it was something insanely precious to him.
He murmured into her hair, his posture as affectionate as the most devoted of lovers, “I know you’re scared-“
“I’m not scared,” she lied stupidly.
Mellark ignored her. “and I know you don’t belong here. You need to listen to me. In The Arena every single mistake you make can mean death.”
“I know that! But what if you are my next mistake?” She fixed him with unfathomable grey eyes, “I can’t trust you. I have no reason to trust you and every reason not to.”
He lifted a brow but did not look offended. “I’ve already saved your life once. Twice, if you count Glimmer trying to slither in here to kill you as you slept.”
“Cato-“
“Would have cheerfully slaughtered you like a pig had I not claimed you as my own.” He interrupted, and this time he did sound offended that she had tried to give credit where credit was undo. “Make no mistake, Girl on Fire. Sparing your life was a gift to me in order to secure an alliance between district One and Two.”
Peeta moved away, kissing the tip of her nose playfully but releasing his intimate hold. He plopped himself onto the bedding beside her. The immaculately built boy stretched his long limbs like a lithe jungle cat and she watched the powerful muscles in his huge arms strain and relax under the pale skin. He could undoubtably kill her at that very moment with nothing but his dominant strength. The fact that he had not only allowed her to live but had chosen to protect her against the accord of his own alliance was a fact that Katniss could not overlook.
She swallowed hard.
“Thank you,” She stammered out words that seemed inadequate.
Peeta chuckled and his eyes sparkled up at her with humor, “It wasn’t a charitable act, baby. I expect payment.”
The district Twelve competitor already knew this. She dropped his gaze and blushed pink from chin to hairline.
He laughed again but raised himself on his forearms and his expression became earnest. “Your body isn’t the only thing I need you to give me, Katniss. You are a beauty worth protecting and I can hardly wait to have you but that wont keep either of us alive.”
She braced herself, unsure if she still had more to give. Her heart, her dignity, her humanity all seemed long lost, stripped away and left behind in District Twelve where they were unlikely to ever be given back to her, even if she returned to them.
“I want your loyalty,” he commanded,”I want the integrity of the girl who volunteered for death without a second’s hesitation to spare her sister. I want someone to protect with my life that will offer me the same, at least until we must inevitably face each other.
And in the end, I want to be left with a single competitor that I feel deserves life as much as I do.”
Despite her best intentions, Katniss began to hope.
“You’ll take me to the end?” She questioned, ignoring the impossibility of besting him in the event she did manage to survive that long. She’d have to beat him with or without his help so the point was moot.
He nodded and gestured to the room around them with a wave, the space full of objects that could preserve a tribute’s life or end it.
“I will give you everything in my power to provide,” the same hand landed on the inside of her thigh and forced a breathless gasp from between her pursed lips. “I’ll keep you safe and I’ll make you feel so fucking good, Katniss.”
She remembered his kiss in the elevator—though she had tried write it off as unimportant—and how it had awaken something inside her that she had previously believed was missing from her essential genetic make-up. Katniss felt a heat in her belly and a quickness in her chest, feminine sensations she once thought petty when whispered about by gossiping girls in her school.
She wondered, now that she knew she was capable of such feelings, why she did not experienced them for Gale as all the other females in her district seemed to. Surely there was something wrong with her if she was coming into a sexual awakening for a trained murderer instead of her handsome best friend.
“Would you like that, love?” He asked quietly. “Are you going to play nice for me?”
Katniss found herself nodding before she’d given herself permission to do so.
Peeta sat up to loom over her, his size the most potent reminder of the disparity between the two competitors.
“But don’t you forget this, Tribute Everdeen; in this arena we are not equals. You belong to me and you will prove that you are worth my time and effort,” his every word rang with finality, and she believed him.
If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to kill, you kill. If I tell you to lay down and look lovely underneath me, you’ll give me a pretty smile, spread these gorgeous legs for me.”
…And for fuck’s sake, if I tell you find a safe place and wait for me you better fucking do it next time or I swear I will track you down and kill you myself.”
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