After a few calls to the park to be certain that the weekend managers had everything under control – they did, as usual – Katniss flopped onto her couch and settled in for a glorious, lazy Saturday of junk food, intermittent napping, and Netflix.

Prim phoned shortly after lunch, demanding to know why she hadn't been contacted immediately and given all available updates. Katniss did her best to sound aggrieved that her privacy was being invaded, but she couldn't help grinning as she told her sister about the night before. Most of it, anyway.

"What are you wearing tonight?" Prim asked. "Oh, you have to wear that little orange sundress with the swirly skirt. It looks so good on you, and it's ridiculously cute."

"I'll think about it," she said. She didn't have to think about it; she was definitely going with the sundress.

"I'm really happy for you, Katniss. Peeta is the best. I've always had kind of a little crush on him from working with him on stuff in the past."

"What kind of stuff?" Katniss smiled.

"Oh my God, shut up. Call me tomorrow. Do not make me call you. Is that understood?"

At 6:55, Katniss stood on Peeta's doorstep and breathed in deeply before reaching out to ring the bell. Whatever he was cooking, it smelled divine. The door opened to reveal Peeta looking even more delicious than the food smelled. This, combined with the look on his face as his eyes took her in, sent a happy thrill through her.

The moment she walked in, she slid her arm up around his neck and used her free hand to press him back against the closed door as she kissed him. If he was taken aback, his recovery was admirably fast. He rested his hands on her hips and pulled her body against his, returning her kiss eagerly.

"You look," he mumbled, running his lips along her jaw, "incredible."

His hands slid down to her ass, and she jumped up into his arms and latched her legs around his waist. "Want you," she managed to say as she tilted her head back to give him more access to her throat.

Peeta turned them around so that she was the one pressed against the door. "Like this?" he asked, pressing his hips into hers so that his erection was exactly where she wanted it – plus some layers of clothes that she did not want.

"Mmm, please. Please, Peeta."

He stepped back slightly and unlocked her legs. "Dinner first," he said with a wink. The bastard actually winked.

"You fucking tease!"

He laughed. "It's not my fault you attacked me without so much as a 'hello.' Here I've been working hard all afternoon to make you this meal, and it turns out you only want me for my body!"

"Don't flatter yourself," she grumbled, straightening her dress.

His fingers slid under her chin and brought her mouth back to his, softly, briefly. "Maybe I want you to eat first because you'll need to keep your strength up," he smiled. "And maybe I don't want our first time to be a quickie against my front door." Katniss stuck out her bottom lip in a playful pout, and Peeta quickly captured it between his own lips, sucking on it slightly as he pulled away. "Yes," he murmured, "I definitely want to take my time with you."

"Well, you're doing a fine job."

He led her to his formal dining room, and it was fancy as hell. He'd arranged their two place settings across the narrow width at one end of the table. Was that a duck sitting in the center? Yellow dandelion flowers were scattered over the tablecloth, making her heart clench.

"Mademoiselle," he said in a truly terrible French accent, holding out her chair.

"I feel like everything's about to start dancing and singing 'Be Our Guest,'" she noted as she sat down.

Peeta picked up a knife and started carving the duck. "Are you saying I'm the Beast?"

"No, you'd be Lumiere."

"Ahhh, so you're that hot, buxom, little feather duster."

"Well, not buxom. Sorry."

"No," he agreed, lowering slices of meat to her plate. "But perfect."

"What if I don't eat duck?" she asked.

"That would be unfortunate. But your sister assured me that you do." He met her eyes and smiled.

"That traitor."

"Please help yourself to whatever you want," he said. "I made several different sides and vegetables. And be sure to leave room for dessert."

"Peeta, this is beautiful, really," she told him sincerely. "If it tastes half as wonderful as it smells, I'll be in heaven."

He smiled one of his glorious, obnoxious, sun-god smiles and sat down across from her. "Be sure to try a cheese bun. I think you'll love those."

"If it has 'cheese' in the name, I'm sure I will."

"I could melt some Velveeta to pour over the duck."

Katniss laughed – more of a guffaw, really, to her chagrin. "Next time?"

They loaded their plates and set about the pleasant task of devouring a well-made meal. And fuck, was it well-made. Katniss got seconds of the duck, and then she got thirds. She ate several cheese buns. And she'd be lying if she said she wasn't turned on by the way Peeta watched her enjoy her food.

"All right," she announced at long last, slumping back in her chair. "I'm ready for dessert."

"Maybe we could eat dessert later," Peeta said quietly.

Their eyes met, and Katniss stood up, walked around to his side, and slid into his lap. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his neck as she ran her hands up over his chest and shoulders. "Got something else in mind, Peeta?" she asked. He didn't reply, but his hands found their home on her hips and held on. She kissed her way up his neck and starting undoing the buttons of his crisp blue shirt. She nibbled his earlobe and drew away slightly to look at his face. "You're not teasing me again, are you?"

He shook his head.

She pushed his shirt down off his arms and tossed it aside, then pulled up his white undershirt. She couldn't wait to get her hands on his chest again. Solid, warm, strong, sexy as hell – just like all of him, really. Reaching behind her back, she unzipped her dress and let the shoulders fall loosely around her arms as she leaned forward again to kiss him.

Peeta stood up suddenly, taking Katniss with him, and she squealed at the surprise of it. Her arms and legs were wrapped around him like vines as he carried her upstairs. When he set her down next to his bed, she shimmied out of her dress, watching him watch her. Watching him blush in that way that made her want to cuddle him and fuck him simultaneously.

He turned her around and unbraided her hair, carding his fingers through it before he draped it over one of her shoulders and feathered his lips over the other. Katniss shivered. She turned to face him again and reached for his belt buckle.

"What can I do to make this special for you, Katniss?" he asked as he helped her pull his belt out through the loops.

"Are you asking if I want candles and rose petals?" Her hands started working on the button and fly of his pants.

He smiled a little sheepishly. "In a way, I guess I am. Everyone has sort of an idea of how they want their first time to be, and I'd like to give you that if I can." He stepped out of his pants and pulled her close to him, running a couple of fingers along the ridge of her clavicle. "For some people, it's a certain person… I can't do anything about that, really. Or a certain location. A position. Fast or slow. Whips and chains, I don't know. I just want this to be as close to perfect as I can make it for you."

Katniss unhooked the front clasp of her bra and let it fall down between them. "Here's what I want for my perfect first time," she said, hooking her arms under his shoulders and pressing her breasts to the solid wall of his chest. Was that moan hers or his? Or was it both of them? "I want to have sex with you. That's it."

She lay back on the bed and pulled him over her, arching up into his hands as they covered her breasts. He kissed her sweetly and raised his head to look down at her. "Can I go down on you?" he asked.

"If you… want?" She hoped she didn't sound like a squeamish, immature teenager, but she truly had never understood why a man would want to do that, or how she could ever escape her own inhibitions enough to enjoy it.

"I want very much," he replied, kissing a path to her breasts and sucking a nipple into his mouth. He slid his hand down into her panties to caress her the way he had the night before, and when he moved to take them off, Katniss raised her hips to help him.

Before she knew it, a man's face was between her legs, his nose nuzzling her inner thigh, his mouth dusting little kisses, and she was whimpering, "Please…"

"I'm the one begging you," he said, and then his lips and tongue were dancing over her in a kiss more intense and intimate and pleasurable than she had ever imagined. His eyes were on her face, and she thought she might combust from the hotness of that alone.

Her hands were in his hair, and she suddenly realized, much to her horror, that she was pulling it. Hard. And slamming her hips up into the poor man's face. "I'm sorry," she panted, covering her face with her hands.

Peeta stopped and looked up. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't realize I was pulling your hair and… and… humping your face." She winced. "I feel really stupid. I'm sorry…"

"Katniss, there's nothing to be sorry for. Both of those things are fucking hot. You won't hurt me." He grinned. "By the way, you taste so good, I never want to eat anything else."

She gaped at him, but before she could reply, his mouth was back on her, and she was holding his angelic face and devilish tongue to her body in a way that felt vulgar and thrilling.

Her orgasm was stronger and hit her faster than it had the night before. (Did orgasms get easier with practice?) When Peeta crawled his way back up her body and kissed her, she tasted herself. And she liked it. Quite a lot, actually.

"I do taste good," she mumbled against his lips, and that made him groan in a way that rumbled through her all the way to her toes. She reached between them and cupped the bulge in his boxers. "Do you taste that good?"

He gasped and laughed at the same time. "I don't think so. But don't sample it right this minute if you want me to – what was it? – deflower you."

She laughed with him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, all right. But I do want to." With her fingers, she gently brushed some hair back from his eyes. "I kind of want to do everything with you."

"I kind of want to do everything with you, too," he smiled. "You ready?"

She nodded. "I want this. You." Peeta reached over to his nightstand, opened the top drawer, and took out a condom. She watched as he opened it, then she laid her hand over his. "Can I…?"

"Yeah," he said. He pushed his boxers down over his hips and kicked them aside. Katniss couldn't help but stare. When she finally lifted her gaze back up to Peeta's face, he was blushing furiously. "Okay?" he asked. "They're not the most attractive things, I know, but…"

"I love it," she blurted. What the actual fuck, Katniss? "Um… can we pretend I didn't say that?"

"Are you kidding? I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life."

She laughed and slapped his chest. "Ass!"

She reached between them, took him in hand – relishing the way his teeth dug into his lower lip – and rolled the condom smoothly down over him. Peeta took a bottle of lube from the nightstand and coated himself with it generously, then massaged some onto her.

"Ready?" he asked, stroking a thumb tenderly over her cheek. "I wasn't really kidding about remembering this for the rest of my life." A smart comment dangled on the tip of her tongue. Dangled by just its fingertips, struggling not to fall out. "I know that's corny," he said.

"No," she said. "It's sweet. You're sweet."

It felt surprisingly good to return sincere feelings with sincerity of her own. Maybe Peeta would draw that out of her more often. Sincerity and orgasms.

She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him close as he guided himself inside her. It felt uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt. "Oh," she breathed out.

"Okay?" he asked. He moved his arms under her head so that he cradled her to him.

Katniss nodded. "Yeah. This feels good. The closeness of it."

He leaned forward to kiss her. "Tell me if something feels bad or if something could be better. I'm going to come no matter what, so tell me how to make it good for you."

"It's already good," she said.

"Then we're going for better. Best. Right?"

"Right," she smiled.

He started to move in and out of her, and she sensed that he was being overly careful, overly gentle. It was good, but she knew it could be better. Fuck that, it could be amazing.

"Faster," she said, tightening her legs around him. "Harder."

Peeta followed her directions and slid his hand between them to help her along even more. Amazing was definitely the word for it.

"Katniss, you… fuck," he panted.

"Peeta!" she cried out as her body clenched his and the tide of pleasure washed over her. Was this the rush of oxytocin or whatever that made virgins fall in love with their "first"? If so, then yeah, it was strong as hell. "Oh, Peeta…"

He followed her with a shudder, falling heavily over her. She loved that. She trailed her fingernails up and down his back slowly.

"This was perfect," she said. "Thank you."

"First time it's ever been perfect for me, too," he said, his breath hot on her shoulder. "Because it was you."

"Are you bullshitting me, Peeta Mellark?"

"Are there fools out there who even try to bullshit you, Katniss Everdeen?"

She smiled up at the ceiling. "No," she said. "Now, about that dessert you mentioned… does it actually exist, or was this meant to distract me and make me forget about it?"

"The dessert actually exists. If you're in the mood for another orgasm, we can go have some of it now."

"All right," she said. "I'm sold."

THE END