Cato and Clove scene

It wasn't the first time Clove found herself curled in a ball unable to sleep. However this time she couldn't quite place the reason why. Sure the Quarter Quell started tomorrow, and there was every chance that either her or Cato wouldn't make it out, but still that had been the case before the Games and she had slept fine that night.

Then again, a lot had changed between her and Cato since the Games. She wasn't quite sure what they were, but every time he wasn't nearby she felt a hole in her stomach, she worried when he wasn't at her side incase something had happened to him. She no longer needed to look and see when he entered a room because something inside her just relaxed in his presence. Of course that only brought around a whole new selection of feelings that she really wasn't sure how to deal with.

Sighing, she figured out what she'd have to do if she wanted to sleep. But for some reason just lying sleeping with Cato like they had done so many nights ago just didn't feel like enough. She needed something else, something more.

She needed to feel that connection she'd felt when he pushed her against walls and claimed her mouth as his own, when the passion he felt for her became overwhelming and he couldn't take it anymore. That was how she wanted to feel, she wanted the butterflies and the gasps and the adrenaline that came with them.

Slowly she got out of bed, the air around her only slightly cooler than that under her duvet. She stretched slightly, looking a little like a lioness that has just awoken, but Clove had always looked just a little too much like a predator to appeal to most people. Funnily, she was sure it was one of the things that drew Cato to her. He didn't want the weak ones, the ones that could snap under his touch, the ones that would answer his every call out of fear, no Cato lived for the fight, and for the feeling he got when he was fighting and that was something only Clove could really give him.

She opened the door to his room slowly, using every memory of her training she could to try and sneak up on him. He had also gone through the same number of awful years of training as she had, and there was every chance he could wake up at any moment if she made even the slightest noise. Of course, in the end, Clove got her way and she exhaled slowly at the end of the bed.

She admired his sleeping form, the way the covers had bunched up at his hips, revealing the light colored trail of hairs that led from his navel to much more interesting places. His hands were spread over his head. Clove found herself smiling at the utterly bizarre positions the boy chose to sleep in.

Just do it, she thought to herself before stepping around to the side of the bed, her eyes never leaving the sleeping form of Cato. She almost felt bad for awakening him, he looked so peaceful when he slept and he rarely had other chances to look so delicate. But she had made it this far, and she never really was one to back out of a challenge.

She jumped on the bed and quickly straddled him while bringing her hands over his to pin them on the bed. His eyes shot open and he tried to push his hands forward, but Clove pushed all her bodyweight onto her hands, making it impossible for him to push them away. He fell back against the mattress and looked up at her with a mixture of confusion and excitement in his eyes.

"Clove what the-?" he started asking but her mouth found its way onto his and she gave him little chance to break away. Not that he would have complained. His lips were sweet but forceful against hers, and he wound his fingers with hers as his tongue found its way into her mouth. She found herself exploring every inch of his mouth, wanting to know it better than her own, desperate to find the thing she was searching for.

She removed her hands from his and they found their way into his short still slightly tousled hair. It felt soft against her fingertips as she gripped onto the strands, causing him to growl against her lips. The noise caused a vibration in his chest that sent tingles over Cloves skin and she felt something pool deep in her stomach.

Her back arched into him, so that their torsos were completely pressed against each other, as Cato's hands started to trail along her back, leaving sparks behind them. They settled on the small of her back and began to swirl delicate patterns under her nightshirt. She found herself silently wishing his hands would move just a little lower.

Clove gasped slightly as her wish was granted, and his hands made their way tantalizingly slowly down onto her ass. He pulled away from her and looked at her worriedly.

"Clove are you ok?" he asked uncertainly, his eyes searching hers in the same way he had a thousand times before. She prayed that he would pick up on her feelings, that he would see the lust and the need that was usually so hidden behind the secrets her eyes had seen.

"I won't break," she whispered, staring back. And that was all the reassurance he needed. Because he knew that Clove wouldn't lie to him, not in the same way his trainers had. She would never let him think he could have something that he could never be guaranteed, and yet here he was, with her, and he felt like he'd never wanted something so much in all his life.

As his long arms reached further down and began stroking the backs of her thighs, Clove became increasingly aware of a part of him pressing against her firmly. She didn't like admitting it when she didn't know what to do and yet here she was, completely clueless and feeling inadequate. They hadn't been allowed to lose their virginity in Two, well at least the girls hadn't. "Someone will pay highly for that one day," Lemma had assured her time and time again and suddenly she wished she hadn't listened. That just once she'd broken the rules and done what she'd wanted.

"Cato," she sighed into his mouth, as the warm feeling spread from the back of her thighs upwards slightly and affected her in ways she's never been affected before.

He pushed them up then, she didn't doubt for a second he'd have the strength to do it, and they sat in the middle of the bed, her legs now wrapped firmly around his waist, begging him to move closer towards her. She moved herself slight, so that she could feel him pressing against the spot where she felt the most relief, the center of her desires. They stared at each other for a moment; their breath mingling as they tried to feel the others heart rate with their chests pressed so tightly against each other. Clove leaned her head down so that their noses brushed lightly against each other's.

"Clove we-"

"Shhhh," Clove instructed, her lips pressing lightly against his before her lips ghosted his and she mouthed the words, "I want this." She looked up into his eyes then to see something she'd only seen twice before. Once when he pushed her against the wall after the dance and once in the elevator. It was one of the few moments when she was reassured that he felt the same way about her as she did for him. Not that either of them would ever say the words out loud; their actions would always speak for them. But they never needed to hear the words either, for their relationship was not one of words or lies or poems, it was one of passions and scars and actions and that is how it would always stay.

As if he needed no more instructions he twisted their bodies as he threw her down into the mattress, her back pressed firmly there by his weight, his face hovering inches above hers. His lips curled into that wicked smile she'd grown all too fond of recently and she felt his lips make contact with her earlobe, lightly tugging on the sensitive skin and causing her nails to dig into his shoulder blades like she was clinging onto the last shreds of her sanity.

He pressed himself flush against her, every part of them connected. "Promise?" he whispered in her ear, the warmth breath heating her ear and sending an unfamiliar warmth directly downwards between her legs.

"Always," she replied, now aware of the fine stubble of his cheek rubbing against her face. She pondered over what exactly she was promising him, and then realized she didn't care. That really he hadn't needed to ask because she trusted him, and most things she had she would give to him.

His lips made their way tactfully over her face, along her jawline, over her defined cheekbones, one on the tip of her nose, teasing her slowly by giving her what she wanted but not directly. When his lips found their way back to hers again she sighed in the relief that she found in the pressure. His lips moved slowly but with a purpose, the purpose slowly become more and more obvious as she twisted under his weight to try and press the part of her that craved him the most against him, the actions causing a beautiful friction that she didn't think she could ever tire from.

He broke away from her then, leaving her lips feeling colder, before moving his lips to trail kisses down her neck, his tongue pressing heavily against her skin as it swirled intricate patterns that she was unable to focus on. Every move he made had one purpose, to make her want him. To make her need him like she'd never known and for once she was ok with it. Because she did need him, because even though their training had centered around there being only one victor, around learning how to survive on your own, independent from the rest of the world, she would always need him. She would always need his presence with her to continue living.

She arched her back as his hands moved to the hem of her shirt, her body encouraging him to remove the item of clothing. He obliged and tossed the shirt to one side before leaning up on his arms to admire her. She felt herself grow warm under his watchful eyes, as the moved slowly up and down her naked chest, taking in every curve of her breasts and the way her chest moved quickly as she breathed shallowly under him.

He forced himself downwards then, taking her lips hungrily in his own. All sense of control had become lost as Clove gasped one again, the sound feeling foreign in her mouth as his tongue unforgivingly made its way into her. She knew it was how he had to deal with his emotions, he had to be strong and forceful and show no weakness because it was how they were trained; your weakness was your worst enemy. It was what they'd always been told. The only way to handle your weakness was to confront it, and that's what they were doing. Because at the end of it all their greatest weakness was the love they had for each other, the way that one would never let the other put themselves in danger and yet danger was all they had to offer each other. The way Cato's muscles tensed over her reminded her every second that he had the power to break her and her nimble hands gripping onto his hair made him think of all the lives she had ended with them. But the power that they both held was what had gotten them here in the first place, and it was what bound them together stronger than anything else could.

Clove soon found that the way she could feel Cato's muscles move in his back made her curious about his other muscles, and so her hands moved downwards, feeling the excitement in the small room grow stronger as her hands played with the start of his pajama trousers. He groaned against her mouth as her hands slid into them, and then decided they were getting in the way, she went back up over the muscles in his behind and quickly and slightly awkwardly removed them from him. He helped a little at the end by sitting back to pull them off and she took a moment to admire the way the dim lights in the room outlined his chiseled abs. Her eyes moved downwards, her eyes unable to help themselves, and she smiled slightly as his hips dipped impressively down to his erection. She found herself licking her lips in the slight anticipation of the moment.

Her breathed hitched in her throat slightly as he leaned back over her, she was now overly aware the only thing between them was the thin fabric of her sleeping shorts. She wasn't scared, she was the one who had wanted this after all, but she was worried of what happened afterwards. Could one night change everything? As she looked into her eyes with the question she knew she had to answer she hoped it wouldn't. She never wanted him to look at her another way.

She sighed as his lips pressed into her neck once more and her hands grabbed onto the bed sheets this time, the soft fabric feeling cool against her burning skin. His lips trailed down over her body, creating sparks of heat everywhere his lips made contact with her sensitive skin. She felt particular heat as his tongue moved over her nipple. Picking up on her particular reaction he flicked his tongue over the sensitive skin a few more times, and she felt his smile against her skin as she arched them closer to his mouth. She would have been frustrated when his mouth moved downward over her scarred abdomen if it didn't leave her wanting more. Every contact of skin on skin or his mouth on her sensitive skin sent shots of electricity through her.

He paused for a moment at the top of her shorts and looked up at her, as though he was looking for approval. The sight of him there made Cloves insides clench in an all too pleasurable way. Her loud sigh was all the encouragement he needed before he pulled the shorts away from her, leaving her completely naked in front of him.

To say she felt vulnerable was a lie, she felt powerful, she had nothing and posed no form of threat and yet Cato still waited for her consent on what to do, on what was right. And that was how they'd be, she'd be the control and he'd be the power. He slid himself slowly over her again, she could now feel his rock hard erection pressed against her most sensitive part and it felt so right and so wrong all at once. It felt so good; to feel him where she couldn't help feeling he was meant to be all along and yet she needed more.

As his lips made contact with hers once again she felt his hips thrust forward and his length run along her, causing a loud moan to escape her and her lips vibrated against his lips slightly, encouraging him to repeat the motion. As he did she felt something building inside her, making her muscles clench and her hips buck upwards begging for the a release.

"Cato! Clove!" Glimmers irritating voice cut through the night and Cato froze above Clove, his head in the crook of her neck, his breathing heavy and tormenting against her skin. She would kill Glimmer, wring her neck slowly and watch the life drain out of her too blue eyes. She continued to bang on the door and yell at them for what felt like hours, every passing second creating a new level of tension, as they feared she would just barge into the room in that careless way she did. Clove chose to focus on Cato's tense form which was pressed tightly against her, as tense as she felt.

Eventually they heard the sound of her hurried footsteps storming off down the corridor and Cato relaxed on top of her, collapsing fully onto her. Clove shut her eyes in silent relief as she ran her hands through his short hair, soothing him with her steady breaths.

"Clove," Cato mumbled eventually, not removing his face from the crook of her neck.

"Yeah," she whispered back, slightly afraid that some how Glimmer could her them and would storm right back again.

"Why now?" Cato asked, now lifting his head slightly. She knew he'd done it to try and search her eyes as she answered, hoping to find some trace of it before she spoke.

"Because I want to. Because I want you," she replied, looking down slightly to meet his gaze, feeling his own breath as it made its way over her collarbone.

"That's it?" he questioned, seeming quite confused by her answer.

"You need more of a reason?" her answer came out harshly.

"I just don't understand. Why right now? This night. We've stayed next to each other for a year now, we spent years training together and I just don't understand why this moment means so much that you've decided it has to be now," he didn't mention the real reason he needed to know she was ready, but she knew anyway.

"Well why not now?" she answered back, and Cato knew she was avoiding the real reason.

"Clove," he sighed, looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Because tomorrow there's a chance either one of us will end up back in the arena, that we'll never have the chance to be together again. I lost you once to that stupid arena and I won't let it happen again. They can take everything else from me but they won't take how I feel about you. And I need you to know that, so that there's never any doubt that you knew," she replied.

He took a moment to enjoy her words, letting them settle in his mind before he kissed her. This time less hungrily and more with a sense of meaning, letting her know that he knew how she felt and that he felt the same. That he was always going to know how she felt in this moment, how she was ready to give herself to him completely and that he had never felt more privileged by anything in his life. Even being chosen to compete in the Games, something he had worked his whole life for couldn't compare to this moment. It couldn't compete with the warmth that she brought to him; the way she made him connect to parts of himself he couldn't of otherwise.

As she ground herself against him, returning the building feeling to her stomach she felt like she had been missing since Glimmers interruption. Her legs began to wrap around his waist, bringing him closer to her, increasing the pressure between her legs and making her moan once again. Cato lifted himself off of her and looked at her.

She examined his face, the sharp cheekbones and strong jawline that made her heart clench. But nothing compared to the eyes that she felt could see right through every wall she built, to see the pain and torment that wracked through her everyday.

He reached down and held himself to her entrance, she felt herself brace for him as her hips tilted upwards slightly. She closed her eyes and exhaled loudly as he slid into her, every part of him rubbing off the walls of her insides. He paused slightly, letting her get used to the feeling of him in her and she breathed heavily a few more times, before opening her eyes to find his own eyes looking down at her, looking for the confirmation from her that he should continue.

As she had promised, she didn't break. She felt her moans grow louder as he continued, his thrusts becoming faster as her hips came up to meet his as she picked up on his rhythm. Each thrust seemed to stroke a new part of her, pleasuring her in a way that the one before hadn't and making her build beautifully as the act continued. Her hands gripped his back as her legs squeezed tighter, begging him to bring her release as her muscles started to clench uncontrollably and every inch of his skin pressed against her made her skin feel alive.

"Cato," Clove cried out, as her muscles clenched one last time around him strongly as her back pushed off the bed and she held onto the high feeling that shot through her body like fire that she never wanted to calm. He continued to thrust into her prolonging her orgasm as she tugged her fingers tightly against his hair. He thrust a few more times until he found his own release and she felt the result pool inside her.

He pulled himself out of her but remained over her, not really sure what to do. She met his gaze and tried to work out the emotions that were dancing over them, for once she was completely at a loss to work out what he was thinking. She had never seen him look this way.

His sweat mixed with hers as he waited for their breathing to slow before pressing his lips lightly against hers and resting his forehead against hers.

"You've done that before," Clove accused eventually. Although Cato heard the curiosity in her voice as she spoke.

"They needed us to be ready for the Capitol lifestyle. We needed to be ready to be sold if it came to that," he explained, now feeling slightly guilty as he thought about his own first time and how it had been nothing like this. He had had spectators giving comments and yelling when he had stepped out of line. It hadn't even come close to competing with the connection he felt now with Clove.

"Huh," was all she said on the matter but he saw the slight sadness in her eyes before she could hide it in their darkness.

"Clove," he exhaled, his eyes now bright in the darkness of the room.

"Yes," she responded, making sure not to break eye contact.

"I know," he whispered.

"I know too," was all she was able to reply with.