He noticed that the old one they called Sae no longer lived in the cottage in the woods and that a young thing had taken her place.
He watched her from where he hid among the trees and he saw her comings and goings.
He saw that she lived there alone to begin with, visited sporadically by a young male, but then something changed and her mate was with her every night.
He heard them in the night, when they cried out to each other. He wanted to know more and so he spied at their window. He could make out their bodies twisted and tangled before the fireplace, naked beasts that clawed and sucked at each other's flesh. He knew what they did, even through he was without experience. He could smell them through the cracks in the windows and it made his body twitch.
He watched her and learnt that she was alone most of the day. She was a hunter like him. He saw how she would gut and clean the bodies of her kill out behind the house, the glint of the knife as it sliced into them, the blood that coated her hands, and it excited him.
The thought of her made his mouth water and he knew he wanted her. He would catch her when her mate was not there and he would have her.
He watched her mate leave just after sunrise, pressing his mouth to hers before he went, and he saw her then draw back inside. Once he was satisfied that the other male was gone he crossed toward the house. Moving with near silent footfall he approached, every muscle in his body alert. The entrance stood open and he poked his head inside. He could smell her in the air, he saw the hearth where he had witnessed them at night and he went to stand there. He breathed in the scent, which was stronger there, and he could wait no longer. He must find her and have her now.
He heard the movement as she walked from the bedroom, her eyes grew wide with shock and fear as she saw him standing there and he bared his teeth in a wide grin knowing that at last she was his.
Her hand flew to the kitchen table just as he made his move.
...~...
The door was still wide open when Peeta came home from work, he called out to Katniss but there was no answer.
Immediately on entering the house he noticed the overturned chair and the glass that lay on its side on the table, the water that had been in it still pooled on the wood beside it.
He scanned the room - nothing else was out of place. Just as he was about to head to the bedroom he saw the drop of blood at this feet and then another and another leaving a trail that headed to the back door.
His heart began to race as he ran outside.
"Katniss!"
She was there at the back of the house, covered in blood.
She looked up at him.
"What are you doing?" he viewed the beast on the cleaning table that she worked on with her knife. "What is that?"
"A wolf, he got in the house."
"Are you alright?" he said, scanning her body to check that the blood that stained her hands and which smeared across her top was the animal's and not her own.
"Of course!" she said and then without the bravado she admitted, "I was lucky there was a knife on the table and that my aim today was true, otherwise I might not be here talking to you now."
"Katniss," he groaned with an infuriated shake of his head, as if he did not already worry about her every time he left her alone in the forest. He wanted to pull her into his arms to relay his relief and his love for her, but the beast's blood stopped him.
Knowing his thoughts, she replied, "You don't have to worry about me Peeta, I can look after myself."
"I know you can, but that doesn't stop me worrying."
"I'll be in in a minute," she said looking back to where the wolf lay, "I'm almost finished."
"Okay," Peeta nodded "I'll get started on dinner."
...~...
Peeta watched her move above him. She looked magnificent in the light of the hearth. His beautiful wife.
Katniss, his wife.
Three months since their wedding and it still thrilled him to say. He did not think that the satisfaction he got from those three simple words would ever fade.
They had overcome the obstacles that had stood in the way of their marriage; Peeta's father had given them his blessing even though his mother was still obstinately opposed. And Katniss' mother had preferred to see her daughter wed than live in Sae's cottage in the woods alone. Peeta worried about Katniss out here all day whilst he was at work at the bakery in town. She waved aside his concerns, but he knew that since the incident with the wolf a few months back, she was a little more wary.
The light of the fire illuminated her skin, her eyes closed, head thrown back as her dark hair hung loose around her shoulders. She moaned as he took hold of her breasts, kneading them before trapping their darkened peaks between his thumb and forefinger. She arched herself into his hands and he responded by tightening his grasp.
She moved forward, bearing her weight on her arms, her hands spread out across the muscles of his chest as her hair fell in curtains about them. He grabbed her ass roughly, his fingers sinking into her flesh as he met her thrust for thrust. He swore, as her pace quickened and she rode him harder. She felt so good.
When her movements became shallow and her breathy moans began to fill the room, he was not willing to let the pace slow. Overturning them he looked down on her, raising her ankles to his shoulders. With renewed force he drove into her. He watched her as she came apart beneath him, the tremors rocking through her body, but he did not let up until he finally cried out in release.
Momentarily unable to move he steadied himself, allowing his rapid breaths to subside until, with arms outstretched, Katniss pulled him down to her. Her legs entwined with his as they rolled to their sides, still embracing. Peeta kissed her tired smile, contented exhaustion washing over his body.
And they lay together in the light of the fire on top of the new, shaggy wolf-skin rug.
Notes:
Strangely inspired by Roald Dahl's Red Riding Hood from his wonderful Revolting Rhymes:
"The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
She whips a pistol from her knickers.
She aims it at the creature's head
And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.
A few weeks later, in the wood,
I came across Miss Riding Hood,
But what a change! No cloak of red,
No silly hood upon her head.
She said, "Hello, and do please note
My lovely furry wolfskin coat."
...
Thank you to Katnissinme for taking time out over her holidays to beta this.
Feel free to leave a review - think of it as a late Christmas present!