Large Game

SUMMARY: Katniss has been focused on hunting and providing for her neighbors for weeks. Peeta longs for her focus to turn to him again. When she realizes this, she devises a creative way to show him just how game she is for that. Rated M for a reason. ;)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Hunger Games. The Trilogy of course belongs to Suzanne Collins. This is purely a work done for leisure and not for profit and no copyright infringement is intended in the use of these characters, their setting, or their situation.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I am new to Hunger Games fan fiction but not to fan fiction in general. If you are waiting on E2L, I'm sorry. I've just been quite THG inspired of late. E2L will wrap up before the end of this year though, I promise (and I really envision it wrapping up a lot sooner than that but I'm allowing some leeway). :) Anyway, this little oneshot was inspired by a recent fun road trip conversation. The idea was "sexy: Katniss and Peeta style." This would be set in that happy Mockingjay pre-epilogue time frame. Also, I know in fics Katniss often gets her ideas from Johanna and while I love Johanna and those fics, I decided to give her some credit and let her come up with something on her own. Initially so pure or not, I know she has it in her. ;) Enjoy and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

"Another long day ahead?" Peeta asked, knowing the answer but asking anyway.

"Probably."

"Okay, but do you think you'll be slowing down again soon?"

"Yeah. You know I just wanna help everyone fill their freezers before winter comes."

Peeta smiled. "I know." He couldn't begrudge her the opportunity to care for the district in the way she was so capable of doing so. And he loved her for her generosity and fierce protectiveness of their neighbors. He just missed her. It had been dawn to dusk for weeks now between her hunting and deliveries and when she was home, she was exhausted and just ate and slept and woke up and did it again. He knew she was smart to prepare them all for the colder months ahead even if it didn't even feel like those months were coming fast. It had been an unseasonably warm couple of days but then, October could be unpredictable. It could be in the 70s one day and snowing the next. He felt guilty for hoping it would snow soon because then he could keep her inside...and keep her warm.

He watched her sling the quiver over her shoulder and grab her bow. She walked over to him and placed a quick kiss on his lips. Pulling back, she grinned up at him in the way that told him she was going to ask him for something he wouldn't be able to refuse her. "Are you going to make more pumpkin bread today?"

He chuckled. "Maybe."

Her eyes twinkled. "Then I'll try to be home earlier." She winked at him as she walked out the door.

Peeta sighed. Buttercup stared back at him from his perch on the windowsill. "What? I'm just starting to hate her bow and arrows, okay? She has her hands on them all day long!" He blew out a frustrated breath. "And why am I telling you this?" Shaking his head at himself, Peeta turned and went back to the kitchen, where he gathered the ingredients to make pumpkin bread. He'd been planning to make her some today anyway but he couldn't help but hope she might feel particularly grateful.

Outside, Katniss paused. The weather had been beautiful so they had some of their windows open, letting the breezes blow through the house. The wind had also carried Peeta's voice though and she had heard what Peeta had said when he didn't think he was saying it to anyone but the cat. She frowned and then turned and continued toward the woods.

Hunting that day, she felt distracted and her haul suffered for it. Though she and Peeta were now married, she still felt like there was so little she knew about intimate relationships and about being a wife. She hadn't realized he'd been missing her so much and she hadn't really thought about him missing her that way. She should have. It had been weeks and it wasn't that she didn't miss him physically too. She did. Before they'd married, Peeta had insisted they wait to make love until they were officially husband and wife and she'd complied because she knew it was important to him and because she didn't really know what she was missing. And after they'd married, she'd found out.

She flushed thinking back on those first few insatiable months. They had settled down a bit after that but had still enjoyed each other fairly regularly as more time passed. But this past month, they had barely done more than kiss. She'd been so focused and then otherwise so tired. And Peeta was always supportive and patient. He'd even rubbed her shoulders, her back or her feet at times, knowing she was overusing them. But he was missing her touch all the while and not saying a word. It warmed her heart and frustrated her at the same time. She felt selfish and stupid for being so oblivious. He should have just told her. Yet she knew he wouldn't want her to think badly of him, to think him brutish or unsupportive. But she wasn't good at figuring these things out on her own.

She walked around checking the traps she'd set yesterday and collecting the prey they had caught. All the while, she thought about making it up to Peeta, making time for him and touching him and not her bow and arrows for a change and as she started to reset some snares, it came to her. She felt heat rush to key areas of her body as she formulated a plan.

Having done so, she walked on from her traps and felt a renewed motivation for her hunting. She only planned to hunt one warm-blooded creature the next day. When all was said and done, she did return to town with a successful haul, which she enjoyed delivering as usual. She let each of the families know though that she wouldn't be delivering any meat the next day and might be slowing down on her deliveries from here on out. They assured her that they appreciated all of her efforts and had been stocking up well based on her advice. Heading home, she felt good for being useful and making a difference in her district but also for deciding to choose her husband's needs now. As she looked around, she realized light was fading fast and the first stars had already appeared in the sky. Well, she wasn't getting home any earlier tonight but maybe after tomorrow, Peeta would forgive her. She felt fairly sure he would.

The next morning, Peeta was up before dawn baking for his own deliveries to the townspeople. Katniss woke up a few hours later and got ready, trying to contain the Cheshire grin on her face. "What?" she asked the mangy furball stretched across her bed. He just looked at her with his typical expression somewhere between ambivalence and disgust. Katniss turned away, too pleased with herself to give Buttercup a second thought.

Skipping downstairs, she glided into the kitchen and watched as Peeta removed a few more loaves of bread from the oven and placed them out on the counter to cool.

"Mornin'!"

"Hey babe. Morning."

"How many deliveries today?"

"Oh, just a handful. I've had time on my hands lately so several folks have gently refused daily deliveries since they can't quite keep up." He grinned sheepishly.

She returned the grin, pleased that they'd be less delayed today than she'd expected. "Okay. I'll help you and then I'd like it if you came with today to help me."

He looked dubious but intrigued. "I'll scare all the game away."

She shrugged. "If you do, you do. But really I want your help with my traps. I have some plans for some new ones but I could use some manpower to help me set them up."

He still looked uncertain but agreed anyway. Katniss set about helping Peeta complete and deliver his orders. As they walked around to their neighbors, she found that she was enjoying even that. It was nice just walking and talking and spending time with her husband. She really hadn't been doing enough of that lately. And she was glad that mother nature seemed to have graced them with another mild and soon to be even warmer kind of day. After the deliveries, they returned to their house briefly. Katniss gathered a few supplies and tossed Peeta an old flannel shirt she knew he never wore. "Don't want you to ruin a good one," she said by way of explanation. Again, he shot her a look that said he had no idea what she had in mind but he changed into the shirt anyway and followed her out of the house.

Having trudged a ways into the woods, Katniss stopped at a small clearing with several small trees clumped together. She asked Peeta to stand between two and her eyes flicked between him and the trees as she feigned thoughtfulness. "What are you hoping to trap?" he asked.

She didn't meet his eyes but the corners of her lips twitched. "A rather large animal."

"What kind?"

She ignored his question, still appearing lost in thought. "Hmm…I need to figure something out," she murmured. "Humor me." He raised an eyebrow at her but remained silent as she approached him. His eyes widened as she began to unbutton his shirt but still he remained silent. She finished unbuttoning and placed the bottom corners of the shirt in each of his hands. "Okay, can you just pull each corner against a tree trunk?"

"Why?"

"I need to eye something," she answered, backing away from him across the clearing.

He did as she requested, spreading his arms wide so that the fabric of the shirt covered parts of both trees he stood between. She looked appraisingly at him. "Good." Then, she raised her bow and positioned an arrow.

"Um, Katniss?"

She smirked at him. "You trust me, don't you, Peeta?"

He cleared his throat nervously. He did trust her. He knew she wouldn't hurt him and he knew she was an excellent, accurate shot. He was nervous because he wasn't at all sure that what they were doing had anything to do with hunting. "Yes."

"Good. Stay still. I mean it. Do not move."

And all of a sudden her face was serious…focused. He didn't move a muscle and before he knew what was happening, an arrow held each side of his shirt to each respective tree. When she lowered her bow, he let out the breath he'd been holding. But then the way she was looking at him made him suck it right back in. "No wonder you wanted me to wear an old shirt," he laughed breathily.

She smiled as she walked back toward him. She raised his arms slightly and then lowered them and gently moved them so that they were between his back and the stretched shirt. Then she circled behind him. "Can you hold this please?" she asked sweetly, placing her bow in his hands.

"Um, sure. Is this…where you plan to trap your prey?"

He felt the heat of her as she leaned in behind him. "I already have," she whispered wickedly against his ear. Suddenly his legs felt like they were made of jelly. Another part of him, however, felt like it was made of a more firmer substance than it had been a minute ago.

She moved her arms under the stretched shirt and slid her hands up over his bare stomach and she moved her mouth to his other ear. "Technically," she continued in a low voice, "you're not fully trapped." He acknowledged this in his own mind. He could shift the bow from hand to hand or let it drop and maneuver to slide his arms from his sleeves, effectively freeing himself. She slid her hands up further, grazing his nipples before her fingers traveled back down to his abs. He could feel her abs against his own fingers where they curled around the bow and she pressed against him. "But something tells me you won't want to escape." He could feel the pace of his breathing pick up. Something told him she was right.

After a moment, Katniss stepped back and moved away from him. He glanced over his shoulder and watched her stalk her way back around the trees until she was standing in front of him. "Give me a minute," she said. He nodded. What else was he going to do? She turned and disappeared then briefly, returning a minute later with another bow. He wondered just how many of those she still had stowed out here. Then, she reached into the bag she'd brought and removed what looked like a stack of small pieces of paper and a roll of masking tape. He eyed the tape warily but she only walked away from him with the items until she'd reached a tree about ten feet away. He watched as she taped several pieces of paper to it and then taped several more to the tree next to it. Then, she returned to him, toting the bow and her quiver of arrows still. "We're going to play a game," she informed him.

"And how does one win?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, humored. "I'm pretty sure everybody wins with this kind of game."

He felt the smile play on his own lips. "Fine. Then, how do we play?"

She retrieved an arrow from her pack and raised her bow in preparation. "Well, first, I'm going to shoot two pieces of paper." She turned, aimed, and did just that. "And then," she said over her shoulder as she walked back toward the paper-covered trees, "I'm going to do what they tell me to."

Peeta was so much more than curious as he watched her retrieve and return with the two pieces of paper she'd shot her arrows through. She grinned as she looked at them. "What do they say?"

She placed her bow and arrows down on the ground nearby and moved so that she was standing in front of him again. "It's a rather appropriate way to start," she said, holding the pieces of paper up so that he could read them. The first said "Kiss" and the second read "Lips." His own parted in anticipation.

She dropped the pieces of paper and stepped forward, closing any distance between them. She leaned her head in frustratingly slowly and he thought about just claiming her mouth himself but he held back because he knew that this was something she wanted to control and because he suspected if he let her, it would very much pay off. When her lips did reach his though, he kissed her back. He hadn't received any instruction to indicate that he couldn't and he certainly wanted to. She ran her fingers up the back of his neck and threaded them into his hair. He longed to do the same but held tightly to the bow instead as she'd asked him to. He gripped it even tighter as she teased her tongue into his mouth and he welcomed it with his own. When she pulled away, they were both breathless. Her eyes held his. She was flushed and she looked excited. He let a lazy smile spread across his face. "I don't think I saw the word 'tongue,'" he teased.

Her lips twitched. "My game. That means it's all open to my interpretation."

"Ah. What's next?"

"Eager to play, are we?"

"Aren't you?"

She grinned up at him and then turned and retrieved her bow and arrows. As she aimed, he asked "Do you know what you're aiming for?" She let the first arrow fly and loaded the second. "Yes. I'm aiming for the papers."

He rolled his eyes. "Ha. Ha. You know what I mean."

"No. I put everything up randomly except that the papers for one tree have actions and the ones for the other tree have body parts. And I have the blank side of the pages facing out so I can't tell what words I'm going to hit."

That was what he'd suspected. He waited with ill-contained anticipation as she returned with her latest "instructions."

"Now what?"

She held the pieces of paper up for him to read, looking amused.

Massage. Ass.

"Does this mean you're going to end up pinching my shoulders?"

"It might." Approaching him again, she slid her hands around to his lower back. Peeta looked down at her and she met his eyes. Biting her lip slightly, she slid her hands beneath his pants and beneath the waistband of his boxer briefs. She felt the familiar curved terrain and she squeezed, enjoying the look on his face. Then she released and rubbed her hands in circles, kneading the flesh intermittently, beginning a more deliberate massaging motion. He looked so pleasured by just this and the heat in his gaze bore into her. Katniss couldn't help herself. She leaned up and captured his lips again and as she squeezed his cheeks again, she pulled his hips flush against her own. They both gasped into the kiss from the welcome contact. Peeta's state of arousal was evident against her. She smiled before deepening the kiss. She didn't let herself get too carried away though. Her plan involved more touching and teasing and generally taking her time. She felt so eager though. She needed to continue the game.

As she pulled away, Peeta's lips followed her but she just gave him an evil shake of her head and he closed his eyes for a moment, recomposing himself. "I didn't see kissing listed on those last sheets of paper," he challenged.

"Oh. Another rule-anything I've done before I'm allowed to do again."

"Mm...a good rule."

"I thought so."

He watched her repeat her aiming, shooting and retrieving and so it continued...

Nibble. Earlobes.

She took license with this as well, kissing and running her tongue along as well as grazing her teeth over his earlobes, sending shivers of pleasure throughout his body.

Suck. Fingers.

She had him hold the bow with just one hand while she pulled the other forward and made a show of sucking on and releasing each finger from her mouth one at a time. She held his gaze the entire time. Peeta's pants felt uncomfortably tight as he twitched against them. He felt partly relieved when she directed his hand back to the bow…only for a minute though.

Tickle. Thighs.

Katniss smirked as she moved toward him and reached out to undo the button on his pants.

Now they were getting somewhere, Peeta thought.

She carefully slid the zipper down, not being able to help grazing his hardness in the process. But she didn't focus any attention there. She simply moved her hands to the top of the pants and tugged them downward to his ankles. Peeta was really glad that the only other person who frequented the woods as much as his wife did now lived thousands of miles away. He couldn't help but feel a bit self-satisfied at the thought. Katniss was now sharing these woods with him. They were very much making them their own today.

She watched his face go from smug to confused as she reached over and retrieved one of her arrows and it made her want to laugh. She remained composed though. She had quite a few varieties of arrows now but she had purposely chosen the ones with the feather fletchings today. Now, she turned the arrow so that the blade faced away from him and she placed the feather end against his calf before slowly trailing it up to the top of his inner thigh. She saw his leg muscles tense involuntarily and she looked up to see his mouth open, his eyes watching her intently. She twirled the arrow feathers and then moved them to glide down the inside of his other thigh, pausing to flick them lightly against the area behind his knee where she knew him to be particularly ticklish. She saw him wince and laughed. She ran the feathers over the front of his knee and thigh and then over the front of the other before attacking the back of his other knee as well.

"You're enjoying this too much," he accused through gritted teeth.

"Maybe a little." She shrugged one shoulder and smiled, running the fletching up his inner thigh again and pausing at the top before pulling it completely away.

Peeta sucked in a breath. The feathers had grazed more than just his thigh as she'd pulled them away. Of course, she was well aware of this. He could see on her face just how much she was enjoying all of this. Of course, he was greatly enjoying the fact that she was…that she apparently only wanted to enjoy him right now. It was what he'd been craving for weeks and he wondered what was making him so lucky today…but he certainly didn't feel like questioning it in that moment. He watched as she shot her arrows and then returned to him. His pants were down and the tent in his boxers was more than evident. Things could only get better from here, he figured gleefully.

Stroke. Lady's Choice.

Better indeed. Except she was eyeing him thoughtfully instead of making the move he thought seemed obvious. And then he watched as she circled behind him. She pulled slightly on the shirt until she had slid it down his arms just a little, exposing his shoulders. Definitely not what he had had in mind.

Katniss bit her lip to hold in her laughter. Did he think it was going to be that easy? She really was having too much fun with him. She let her hands glide over the broad, strong shoulders in front of her. She adored them and the strength they held. But it wasn't just strength in lifting heavy things and kneading the bread that was much of their livelihood that she appreciated. It was the strength of those shoulders and connected arms as they held her tightly and made her feel safe and loved that she most adored.

"Since your shoulders missed out on the massage earlier…"

It wasn't that the shoulder massage she was providing didn't feel good. Her hands felt good just about anywhere she put them. He was just feeling wound tightly from this whole unique situation she'd arranged as well as from the build up of the prior weeks. He couldn't help but smile though. It was so like Katniss to provide herself a choice even within the game that was pretty much all her choices anyway. He felt her lips on the back of his shoulder blade before she pulled away.

Tease. Nipples.

Tease. Perhaps every piece of paper on that tree should just read "tease." Peeta nearly groaned as he saw the arrow feathers stretched out to him again. But instead he held her eyes almost defiantly as the light touches stimulated him more than he would have thought possible. But then she tossed the arrow aside and her fingers were on his erect nipples, pinching them lightly. She kissed his lips briefly before lowering her head and sucking one nipple into her mouth, flicking her tongue over it. She repeated the action on his other nipple.

"Katniss," he breathed and then her lips were back on his, her tongue in his mouth, her hands behind his head, holding him to her…not that he was going anywhere. The kiss was heady. They were both getting more and more turned on as the game progressed and they were communicating it within this kiss. It was particularly difficult for Katniss to pull away this time but she made herself. The smile she gave him felt a bit shaky to her even, as she turned to shoot the trees.

Touch. Gentleman's Choice.

Peeta's face lit up. "Thank God!"

Katniss laughed as she tossed the papers aside and approached him. She could make him wait longer but she didn't feel like it. She slid her hand beneath his boxers and gripped him without further preamble. He moaned and his eyes fluttered shut. "I assume this is your choice?"

He opened his eyes again and she was entranced as she so often was by the depths of blue she was looking into. They were currently a darker, more intense shade of blue though. "Definitely."

Her lips curved and she began to stroke the rigid, hot flesh. As she did so, she let her other hand roam, caressing his chest, his back, his ass and his abs. Peeta's breathing was harsh as she pulled away. She stared at him, considered the effect she was having on him. He always said she didn't know the kind of effect she could have. She was pretty sure she understood the effect she was having on him right now though. It was exactly the effect she had wanted…only even better. He was all hard, hot and bothered. He looked ready to rip himself free of the trees and take the shirt with him rather than even just detangling himself and sliding it off. If she were standing behind him again, she assumed she would see that he was gripping her bow with white knuckles.

"Shoot...the...arrows," he gritted out.

She was going to tell him to ask nicely but thought better of it. She'd prefer he didn't actually rip himself free because she wanted to finish her game. Truth be told, it didn't really matter what was on the remaining sheets of paper. She already knew her end game. Today was all about him and she wanted him to remember it that way. She had purposely left off the specific instructions he would have loved to have seen because she had wanted to tease and build things up to her own liking, but she knew what he liked, what he wanted, what he needed and she didn't intend to disappoint. So, the fact that the final two sheets of paper worked perfectly into her plan were just a bonus…that extra pat on the back to tell her that this had been a fabulous idea and that she had executed it quite well.

Lick. Lady's Choice.

Still, this was at her pace. She kissed him and licked his lips before invading his mouth. Then, she ran her tongue lightly along his jaw to his neck, where she placed lingering kisses.

"Katniss…"

"Shh…"

She ran her tongue down over his left nipple, pausing to circle it before continuing down over his abs, kneeling as she did so. She circled his belly button.

"You are killing me, woman."

"Is that so?" she mumbled against him, bringing her fingers to the waistband of his boxer briefs.

"Yes…except with 20 shots instead of one."

She pulled back and stared up at him. "Maybe I haven't been doing that great a job of this if you have actually been able to keep count."

He shook his head back and forth disbelievingly. "You've been doing quite a great job and you know it."

She smirked. "Fine. But hush up. I'm busy here. Don't make me put an arrow between your teeth to muffle you."

His eyes widened at the suggestion, then narrowed, but he didn't say another word. She pulled his boxers down and was greeted with the raw maleness of him. The size of him had initially intimidated her but by now, she was quite familiar with it and was confident in her own abilities. She reached her tongue out and flicked it over the head of his penis. She heard his breath catch in his throat. She licked her way around the head teasingly, placing her hands on his strong thighs to steady herself. Then, she sucked the tip of him into her mouth and she noted the shift of her bow as it banged the back of his legs. She pulled back.

"Peeta?"

He looked down at her questioningly but didn't speak, no doubt unsure if she'd keep her word about the arrow in his mouth. She grinned. "Do not drop my bow." He looked at her incredulously and then gave a quick nod of his head. "One more thing…" She held his eyes as she said it. "I love you." She saw the warmth on his face as his lips rose but she didn't give him a chance to reply. Instead, she took him back into her mouth and continued this time until she engulfed him fully. She heard him grunt his pleasure. She retreated partially and began a steady back and forth, moving one hand around to cup his ass while using the other to alternately fondle and caress his balls and the sensitive area behind them and to grip the base of his cock as she continued to suck on it. He was anything but quiet now, his choppy breaths and guttural sounds mixing with those of the light wind rustling through the trees around them. She let her teeth graze him lightly and he panted. She did a long, deliberate suck and he moaned. She kept him wet, kept him enclosed and soon she felt the tightening within his whole body before she felt the jerk of his hips, tasted the salt of him as she swallowed it, and heard him cry out with his release.

"Katniss," he managed several moments later as she slowly let him slip from her mouth. He held the bow with one hand and brought his other one forward to bury his hand in her hair. Doing so, he gently urged her upward so that she was standing in front of him again. "I love you, too." He pulled her to him and kissed her breathlessly, sweetly. After their lips parted, she smiled and then retrieved the bow from him, setting it down nearby. Then, she carefully detached his shirt from the trees and put her arrows away in the quiver. Peeta bent down and pulled his boxers and pants back up and then, capturing his wife by the waist from behind, he pulled her down to the ground with him, both of them laughing. Lying there on the grass, they kissed some more and then he just lay back, staring up at the trees, savoring the moment. He held Katniss close and she snuggled into his side, her head on his chest. After a few minutes, she propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him with a self-satisfied smile. "Still hate my bow and arrows?" she asked slyly.

His mouth dropped open. "You heard that?"

She gave a half shrug. "The windows were open."

He scrunched up his face apologetically. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. This wasn't exactly meant to be a punishment," she said saucily.

His lips twitched. "No? What was it meant to be?"

"It was meant to be what I should have been making time for these past weeks. It was meant to remind you how much I do like having my hands, amongst other things, on you…more than I like having them on my bow and arrows. Did I successfully make that point?"

He grinned up at her. "I think so."

"Good," she said, leaning down to place a soft kiss to his lips. "I get caught up sometimes in mission-mode I guess and I also just still don't feel like I always know how to balance our relationship with other necessities of our life. So, please…just tell me plainly what you need sometimes…I'd like to think I'm more sympathetic than that stupid furball anyway."

Peeta chuckled. "I'd hope so and I will try. I'm not always confident in going for what I want or asking for what I need. Obviously…I couldn't even talk to you for years. But we are older now and have certainly grown so I'll try to be more straight forward. We both deserve that."

She nodded, smiling at him. "I am rather impressed," he continued, "with all of this." He gestured to the papers still lying on the ground around them and the clearing in general.

Her smile grew even bigger. "Well…I felt inspired."

"It seems so." He paused, staring up into her gray eyes and feeling so happy to get to really see into them. Not many got to. "There is something else though that I've been needing."

She tilted her head slightly. "What's that?"

"While I greatly appreciate you touching me, like, anywhere, at any time…" She laughed. "I've missed touching you too."

"Oh…" She knew that she had done all the touching. It had been her plan, to focus all of her efforts, to pleasure him. In a logical sense, she'd realized it wasn't reciprocal and partly, that turned her on, the control of it. But now she couldn't help but wonder if it had lessened the experience for him. Maybe she should have done things a bit differently.

"Don't," he interrupted her train of thought. His hand was on her cheek now, his eyes imploring hers. "That's not what I meant. Stop second guessing. I am so beyond happy about today."

She offered him the beginnings of another smile.

"All I meant was…" His lips were curving with each word and his fingers toyed with her ear before sliding over her dark locks down to the band holding her braid. He tugged it away easily, tossing it aside and unweaving the hair with his fingers. "…I think…" His hand massaged her scalp before he brought her lips down to his, brushing them teasingly with his own. "…that it's…" She was mesmerized. Before she knew it, he had flipped them over so that she was lying on her back and he was propped above her. "…your turn." It was obvious he was enjoying the look on her face. The rise and fall of her chest felt faster as she saw the heat in his eyes before he averted them to reach over her head. A moment later, he held two pieces of paper up between them and she bit her lip in anticipation.

Tickle. Fingers.

She fought a laugh and he screwed up his face considering the odd instruction. Then, resolved, he reached for her hand and brought it up between them. Next, he gently pulled some longer strands of her hair toward it and used the ends of the strands to trace each of her digits. Silly as the word combination had seemed, the light touch of the hair did feel…stimulating. And he looked pleased with himself, which was also stimulating.

He reached out for two more nearby papers.

Kiss. Ass.

She couldn't stop the laugh this time. Peeta pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "This game is still working so much more in your favor."

"I've told you to kiss my ass before and you've never listened. It seems you're destined to."

His hands were at her sides in an instant, tickling. "Stop! Stop!"

"Nope," he shot back with relish. "If I've done it before, I'm allowed to do it again, remember?"

"You tickled…my fingers," she argued. He just laughed, ignoring the protest. She was wriggling beneath him to no avail. She felt tears at the corners of her eyes and she couldn't get a full breath. "Peeta!"

Grinning, he stopped. It was rather good luck, he thought, to have chosen "Tickle" so early on, though he was bending her rules to his liking anyway. Still, he'd play fair to an extent. His grin faded. He sat up and made a production of unbuttoning and unzipping her pants, turning her on her side, and easing the top of her pants down so that the upper half of her ass cheek was exposed. She watched him with mirth as he bent down and pressed his lips to the plump curve, pulling back with a loud lip smacking sound. "There…destiny," he said dryly. She chortled. When she calmed down, he pointed his finger at her, fighting his smile. "Stay put," he said. She did. She watched him get up and swiftly gather the remainder of the scattered papers from the game before sitting down next to her again. He sorted through them separating them into two separate piles. Then, he turned each over, shuffled them, and set them down nearby. Satisfied, he picked up a sheet from each tiny stack.

Massage. Earlobes.

He shook his head, caught between humor and exasperation. She sat up and pushed her hair behind her ears for him. He brought both hands to the sides of her face and gently rubbed and tugged on the fleshy part of her ears, then extended his touch to each entire ear. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly and Peeta felt glad that he could make such a simple action pleasurable for her. After a couple minutes, she opened her eyes and her gaze flicked to the two paper piles and then back to his face. He released her ears.

Suck. Lady's Choice.

Their lips curved into the same arc but after a few moments, Peeta hadn't made a move. Katniss considered and then pulled her shirt up over her head, laying it down next to them. Peeta's lips twitched and he leaned forward, reaching his hands around her back to the clasp of her bra. His face was very close to hers and his eyes held a challenge. She felt the warmth of his breath as he spoke.

"Say it." His voice was low. His hands lingered at the clasp.

She took a shallow breath. "N…nipples," she stuttered. In one smooth movement, the bra was unfastened and he slid the straps down her arms and removed it fully.

"Lean back," he whispered and she put her arms behind her and leaned her weight on them. His blonde curls descended in front of her and the heat of his mouth seared her as he took one already hardening bud into it. He twirled his tongue around it and sucked. She squirmed, pressing her thighs together tightly, the unconscious movement adding a friction that increased the heat she already felt building at her core. He paid very detailed attention to each of her nipples before pulling away and leaving her wanting for more. She watched without moving as he held up two more sheets of paper for them to read.

Nibble. Thighs.

Oh God. She was going to pass out from sensation. He had removed his shirt and had lain it down before gently pushing her down to lie on it. Then, he'd removed her pants and he now lay on his stomach between her legs, his teeth grazing and biting down lightly and teasingly all along her thighs. His mouth was so close to her hot center. She felt his exhalations as he moved from one inner thigh to the other. How did she not realize how much she was missing this these past weeks? She clearly had memory issues.

Peeta smiled into her warm thigh. It was trembling. He felt the strain of his second erection, which had been burgeoning since he'd watched her wriggle around from his tickling. He'd been pleased this morning just to have been given the chance to spend more time with his wife, but this day was definitely turning out so much better than expected. He sat up and saw the relief and frustration on her face. He decided he liked the next two words…a lot.

Lick. Lips.

He moved his body over hers, letting part of his weight drop to her. She would feel his hard on. It would spur her own desire. He saw that her gray eyes had darkened. He watched her watching him and playfully licked his own lips. She quirked a brow at him, shaking her head slightly. He brought his face closer to hers then and dragged his tongue lightly over her lips. They parted but he repeated the motion, just on the exterior of the lips. He felt her grip his upper arms tightly. It was very heady the effect he was having on her. He took her lips in his, still licking them as he kissed them. After a minute more of this, he separated his face and then his body from hers. She looked bereft. He surprised her by next sliding her underwear off.

"Peeta?"

"My interpretation, Katniss."

He knelt between her legs and slung them up over his shoulders in a swift motion that made Katniss gasp. Seconds later, his tongue was making her cry out. It flicked and twirled and lapped. He held her thighs firmly and didn't let go until she had drenched him in her unique taste and lay panting before him. He slowly lowered her legs back to the ground. As she recovered, he sifted through the remaining papers.

When she was paying attention, he held them up for her one at a time. Tease. Touch. Stroke. "I'm just going to do some of this and some of this and some of this…" Lady's Choice. Gentleman's Choice. Nipples. "...while taking this and this and these into account. Any objections?"

She shook her head "no."

Peeta removed the remainder of his clothes and lay next to her. He cradled her head against one shoulder and pulled her close and let his free hand roam over her body, from her cheek to her chest to her flat stomach and southward. He took up the motions his tongue had perfected and watched her body come to life again. He sunk two fingers into her and she arched to them. He mimicked what he intended to soon do with more than his fingers and she panted into his skin. He shifted until he was poised above her. "You're my choice, Katniss. You're always going to be my choice," he said huskily.

"As you're always going to be mine."

He took her lips again as he slid into her. Her legs wrapped around him and their tongues entwined as he began a slow thrust. He interlaced his fingers with her own on either side of her head as he pulled nearly all the way out of her and then sunk all the way back in, repeating the motion and seeming to go deeper each time. He pulled back from their kissing to watch her. He liked seeing the effect of every motion he made on her, enjoyed seeing her relinquish control of her body to him as he had to her earlier. He loved how much he knew she loved this. Katniss wasn't one to welcome feelings and vulnerability but with him, she let herself feel everything. She hadn't always but she did now. She had since they'd first made love and he felt like such a better man for being able to open her up to all of the happiness they'd found they could experience together, all of the love that had proven to be in abundance between them. He knew he'd never share this with anyone else. He knew he'd never want to. Her warm, uneven breath fanned his face. Her hips tilted to meet him and as he next filled her entirely, her legs squeezed him firmly to her and he smiled. He understood her need; it was also his own. He lowered his lips to pay homage to her ears, her neck, and her jaw as his hips found a different rhythm. Their grunts and moans and the other sounds of their joining rose up from the forest floor as they moved toward their shared peak. They let sensation take over them and when the world eventually spun back into focus and their breathing began to temper itself, they repositioned themselves lying next to one another. Katniss' head lay over Peeta's heart and one large hand splayed across her back while the other stroked her hair.

"I missed this," she said softly after some time.

His lips curved into a sleepy smile. "Me too."

"If I ever forget I miss it again, please remind me again…vigorously…that I do."

Peeta chuckled. "Gladly."

They lay together resting for a long while before finally rising, dressing and collecting their things. As they walked back toward home, laughing about how they might explain the holes on either side of Peeta's shirt, he turned to her with a sparkle in his eyes. "This game of yours…what do you call it?"

"Successful." She laughed and he joined her.

"Well, we should play it again, perhaps make a few changes or additions next time, just to keep it fresh?" His wink made the breath catch in her throat for a moment.

"Anytime." She looked at him mischievously. "Maybe you should bake the words into cheese buns or frost them onto cookies or something."

He leaned in as if to whisper to her conspiratorially. "I could go frost some pumpkin bread right now…"