After @peetabreadgirl, it was up to the lovely @burkygirl to write in the dark :)
Here is part 10 :)
“Katniss,” he husked, “You’re killing me here.”
But still she felt no hurry. Her finger continued to trace the thick vein that ran along his shaft and then she took him in hand, squeezing the base of his cock and sliding it slowly upwards where she swirled her thumb in the pearly drop that had formed at the head. A sharp breath hissed through Peeta’s teeth and she thrilled at the rush of heat that raced through her before transforming into an ache between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together, seeking relief.
He’s the only man she’s ever done this for. Sex, since she said the horrible words that forced him from her life and back to school, had become a means to an end, a physical release of pent up tension. Finding someone just looking to get off was easy, she’d discovered. But the desire to give pleasure, and to find pleasure in so doing, had lain dormant inside her since the door slammed behind this man.
Instinctively, her hand began to move in the rhythm he taught her. Peeta watched from under hooded eyelids, drinking in the sight of her head in his lap once again.
The tip of her tongue flicked across her swollen pink lips and then along the rim of his penis. The fist in her hair tightened, but still he waited. She offered him a sly smile and then drew him inside her mouth, swirling her tongue around the head of his cock, sucking hard.
“Fuck,” Peeta muttered and dropped his head back against the seat. “Just like that, Katniss.”
She lowered her mouth further, opening her throat to him. They began to move. His hips rocked gently upwards, fucking her face while she laved and suckled him.
Bits of filth and murmured endearment fell from his lips as she picked up the pace, hollowing her cheeks, swirling her tongue about him. She pulsed with desire and thought briefly of bringing herself relief and then rejected it. Nothing would do now but Peeta’s hands, Peeta’s lips; his cock inside her.
The rocking of Peeta’s hips became more frenzied as he lost control.
“Move, Katniss I’m gonna come,” he begged, but she shook her head and sucked more fiercely until he cried out in release and she drank down the salty fluid.
All was still as they waited for Peeta’s breathing to return to normal. His fist released from her hair and he stroked her head where it lay on his knees.
“That was…” He shook his head. “I don't know. The best damn thing to happen to me in eight years. I’ve missed you so much, Katniss. But we really need to talk.”
A sense of dread laced with disappointment filled her. What did he need to tell her? Clearly, her feelings had not changed, but was it the same for him?
She didn't wasn't ready to hear it. She sat up and pulled her shirt over her head.
“Later,” she replied. “Now it’s my turn.”
Things have heated up, right ? We wonder what @geekymoviemom wrote after ...
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LOVE IN PANEM PRESENTS - CADAVRES EXQUIS PART 14.. .FINAL PART !
Thank you @javistg for closing this challenge !! You had the thoughest task, closing a story you haven’t read a word of the story before !! Congrats !
and a huge thank you to @andthisisthewonder, @mtk4fun, @finnicko-loves-anniec, @xerxia31, @nancymay, @titaniasfics, @peetabreadgirl, @hutchhitched, @sandyeyes, @burkygirl, @geekymoviemom, @i-roaring-girl, @mega-aulover and @javistg for trusting us in this (quite) crazy challenge !
Hope you all had fun participating - and reading !
2 years later.
Katniss took a sip of her tea and relaxed into her chair.
Across from her, Peeta mimicked her motions. He smiled. It was a shy, loving smile he saved only for her —the one that made her heart flutter and her cheeks warm up.
Sometimes she wondered how she’d ended up there, back in the town she had once so eagerly escaped, blanketed by Peeta’s love and protection.
She had gone back to Panem determined to sever all ties with the place where she’d grown up —a bleak corner of the world which held nothing but pain and sorrow.
She hadn’t planned to stay long, just enough to get rid of the physical reminders of her unhappy past.
But life has a funny way of changing people's plans, and Katniss soon discovered that her mother’s house was more than bricks and mortar.
Her mother’s tenderness, her father’s voice, her sister’s laughter. They were all stored there, trapped in the pictures hanging on the walls, hidden in the old chests and drawers which were still stuffed with the scents and sounds of Katniss's past.
Determined to hold on to the life she had made for herself, Katniss resisted these dusty memories of happy times and shattered dreams as much as she could. But it was no use. The hopes and wishes of her past plagued her mind, confusing her with their intensity, making her question her actions and her plans.
Still, Katniss stuck to the program. She kept the house on the market and told herself, over and over again, that selling her mother’s things and her childhood home would make her happy, set her free.
In a way, it would; just not in the way she’d imagined.
Peeta Mellark had been another surprise from her past. The shy boy she’d once known had turned into an attractive man who was interested in buying Mrs. Everdeen’s house.
He had changed everything; her plans for the future, her outlook on life.
His kindness and tenderness had broken through the walls she’d once used to protect herself.
By his side, Katniss had been forced to question everything she thought she knew about, life, love, friendship.
Peeta had taught her that there was more to life than survival, more to love than loss; that she didn’t have to face every obstacle on her own, that her family could be more than the handful of ghosts which haunted her dreams.
He had been patient and kind, loyal and true. He had stayed by her side.
Even now, years later, his embrace felt like the one place where she was safe. Her one true home.
It hadn’t been easy, letting him into her heart, learning to love him without fear. But once she opened up to him, there was no going back.
Together, they had settled back into the town where they’d both grown up. They'd made a life for themselves, caring for one another, keeping each other safe.
Peeta spent his days baking and sketching, filling their world with beauty and color. Katniss worked in the surrounding forests, keeping them safe and clean. She also kept a journal where she recorded all the happy moments she shared with Peeta every day.
It was a peaceful life, full of small routines and quiet moments. It was nothing grand, but it was theirs; it made them feel safe, allowed their love to grow and flourish.
Katniss took another sip of her tea and smiled, her mind occupied with the new entry she was about to add to her book.
“What’s on your mind?” Peeta asked softly, not wanting to scare away her thoughts.
Bringing her hand to rest over her still flat stomach Katniss said, “I was thinking about life.”
Peeta tilted his head to one side. “Life? What about it?”
Reaching out over the table, Katniss wrapped her fingers around Peeta's arm and gave it a gentle tug.
Intrigued, Peeta stretched his arm, allowing Katniss to guide his hand.
Gently, she pressed his open palm against her abdomen. Her small hand covered his as she said, "I think ours is about to change again."
Well, well, this is nearly the end ... after @i-roaring-girl it’s up to @mega-aulover to be the penultimate writer of this challenge :)
As usual, it’s under the cut ...
She stood at the precipice trembling, having expressed her deepest darkest secret. Of course she always loved him and it was that same love that drove her away. It frightened her to love him without borders. She was still young but all of the corners of her life had been tinged by grief. Her father died; her sister’s death is what pushed them apart. Now her mother’s death was pushing them back together again.
“If you loved me why did you push me out of your life?”
“When Prim died, in the accident, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was afraid of loving you, afraid that you’d die too. So I left.”
Peeta turned his back on her, his hands jammed through his hair. “You could’ve come to me, told me how you feel.”
Katniss had no excuse. “I know that now.” She closed her eyes. “No matter how far I ran, I would've always returned to you.” She pointed between them. “This would have always happened.” Nothing she did could erase or diminish the love she felt for Peeta Mellark. No man could ever take his place.
“I’ve always loved you Peeta. I could never forget you, couldn’t erase you from my mind, my body, or my heart. You are the constant in my life, my one bright joy. Like a dandelion, you’re always there. I was young and unable to say what I felt and it was terrifying. I knew what my mother went through, losing my father, then later on my sister. Love hurts, Peeta. Losing someone you love hurts, and I didn’t want to go through that, so I left. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you too.” Even as she confessed this, that maddening sense of doubt crept into her soul.
This doubt doused the flames of hope and replaced it with fear.
If she loved Peeta again, she’d lose him too, just the way she’d lost everyone she loved. Her father, her sister, and her mother. Nothing was left and love was at the root of it. Loving people not only made you weak, but it also caused havoc and pain.
Katniss made a move to leave, but Peeta stopped her with his words; his eyes were pleading.
“I’ve loved you too. I know love hurts Katniss, when you left me my whole world came apart. I tried to restart. Dated other women, and I can tell you first hand none of them held a candle to you. No one can touch me as deeply as you can, Katniss, and I decided a long time ago I wouldn’t settle for any substitutions. I don’t want to end up like my father.”
“Peeta,” she whispered.
“No you listen to me Katniss Everdeen. I know love is hard, and I know that living without you is worse. My father settled and we suffered for it. My mother took it out on us, took out the failure of her love loss on me especially. My father couldn’t even look at me half the time. I reminded him of what could have been. I’m not going to end up like him.” Peeta’s jaw tightened. His blue eyes became like steel flint. “I”m going to have your love in my life or none at all.”
Tears flowed down her face, her heart thudded, his name like a prayer throughout her body. “Peeta...”
“I’m not letting you go again, Katniss. I’m not letting you slip through my fingers like the last time.” He walked over to her, and instead of being forceful or demanding, Peeta waited for her. “Whether you want my love or not, you have it. If you want to be with me that would be wonderful, but the choice is yours.”
Her emotions became words born from her heart, “My love is real.”
“Then stay here with me; stay, don’t leave.”
Tears poured from her face; she grabbed on to his shirt as she came home.
“Hush my love, we’ll face everything together. I’ll never leave your side as long as you want me.”
Well, well, this doesn’t turn too bad, considering the authors had NO CLUE of what happened in the previous chapter, right ? (yes, feel free to ask them! )
Want to see what’s happening after @nancymay‘s lines ? it was up to @titaniasfics ?
maybe at one point we’ll have zombies or a an alien invasion - who knows ? a few writers are stil up :)
As usual, it’s under the cut !
“You’re really dead-set on that box, aren’t you?” he asked, perhaps more to himself than to Katniss. “Alright.” He got to his feet with more agility than she expected, making her wonder if he had actually lost, fair and square. He stretched out a hand to help her to her feet.
“Where are we going?” Katniss asked.
“A deal’s a deal.” Peeta indicated toward the car. “Dad was explicit about making sure I was the only one in my family who would be able to access the deposit box. I have everything at my place.”
Peeta wiped his hands on his pants. Katniss tried to ignore the way the muscles of his shoulders strained against the material of his t-shirt. She hurried to follow him, as if he would disappear into thin air, taking his secrets with her.
He held the door open as she slipped into the passenger seat before rounding the car. He slipped in next to her and cranked the motor.
“Do you know why he would do that?” she asked.
“It’s obvious there were things in that box he didn’t want my mother to see - a few investments mostly that he’d designated specifically for me, the ownership of the bakery, which was public knowledge anyway. But there were other artifacts - pictures, trinkets...I looked inside and didn’t understand exactly what I was seeing. It was as if he’d tossed the contents of a keepsake box with no explanation of what anything was.”
Katniss nodded as she listened to him speak. They drove the remainder of the way in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. What could Peeta’s father have thought to be so important, it could only be entrusted to his youngest son?
They pulled up to an apartment building at the edge of Merchant’s Circle, a newly constructed complex that reminded Katniss of those funny buildings she’d seen in pictures of Miami - buildings made of glass and concrete, splashed with color and funny art.
“Why am I not surprised that you would voluntarily choose to live in a cartoon apartment building?”
Peeta chuckled, clearly amused at her description. “‘Cartoon apartment building?’ This is the art deco style, Everdeen. Let me guess, you live in a shack in the middle of the woods? How’re you adjusting to running water and indoor plumbing these days?”
“Great, but it’s hard to catch squirrel in town the way I want,” she deadpanned. At his shocked expression, she gave herself over to a guffaw of laughter at his expense.
“Please tell me you didn’t pull your bow and arrow out in town and try to hunt squirrel,” he said incredulously as he punched a code into the electronic keypad and let her inside.
“It was awfully tempting,” she said, laughing at the horrified expression on his face. They stood in front of an elaborately painted elevator door, which caused Katniss to chuckle again, provoking a glare from Peeta. She struggled unsuccessfully to suppress her chortles, though every now and again, one would escape. Soon, Peeta was laughing along with her and it struck Katniss just how very good it felt to be silly and laugh sometimes.
Peeta unlocked the door of his apartment, inviting Katniss inside. Despite the pretentiousness of the building, the apartment was simple and tastefully decorated. He was definitely a bachelor but not a savage one. For some reason, this bit of information made her happy.
He invited her to take a seat on the sofa as he rummaged through the kitchen, bringing out a couple of bottles of water and ice-cold beer.
“I’ll be right back,” he said as he disappeared into a room before returning with a large manila envelope.
“Mind you, I took all the legal documents out already. But these were other artifacts that were inside the box along with that stuff.”
Katniss’s hand trembled as she opened the envelope. It was hard to see exactly what was inside. Nodding wordlessly to Peeta, she carefully dumped the contents of the envelope onto the table. There were various oddities - hotel cards, dinner tickets, movie stubs, plastic rings and silly, rhinestone jewelry. There were even a couple of brochures for bed and breakfasts out in the country, not far from where they were at the moment, each scribbled over with notes, random slips of writing between the pages.
“This looks like the contents of a junk drawer,” Katniss said, continuing to shuffle among the minutiae until she came on a hair clip that struck her as familiar. She pulled it from under the various trinkets, examining it closely. It was a metal clip wrapped with delicate blue ribbon and lace, tied into a bow. She racked her memory, was slow to place the object. After several moments, it dawned on her why it looked so familiar. When the realization became clear, her heart dropped into her stomach. She felt the color drain from her face when she finally remembered Peeta, who was watching her every expression.
“What is it?” he asked, taking the clip from her hand to examine it.
“My god,” Katniss whispered, shaking her head, now more confused than ever.
“Is it your mom’s? Did he saved your mom’s hair clip?”
Katniss shook her head, unable to compute what she saw before her. She took the clip back
and, without warning, brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply. She thought she could still smell her distinct, baby girl aroma, even after all these years. Tears threatened to spring loose from her eyes and drown her in a churning sea of longing and sorrow. She turned to Peeta, looking for an anchor before she was swept away and he responded, placing an arm around her shoulder.
Well, well, things have heated up, right ? @burkygirl did her magic...
Wanna see what @geekymoviemom came with ? Did she pick up where Burky left ? or do we finally get to see that Alien invasion? or Zombie walk ? or a Fraülein Maria song ?
Find out under the cut.
Katniss had always been better with actions than words. Saying something, especially when that something was trying to express her feelings, never came easily to her. She tossed the shirt behind her, sliding closer to where Peeta sat on the wood floor, his blue eyes the size of pie tins.
“Katniss,” he stammered, even as his tongue poked out to wet his lips. “I don’t think this is the time for that.” He looked away, filling her chest with a crushing feeling of rejection as he picked up the hair ribbon. “We should still talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk about it!” she shrieked, startling them both. “Talking doesn’t help with anything! It won’t bring her back, Peeta! It won’t bring her back!”
“I know that!” he shouted. It was the first time he’d ever yelled at her, and he winced at her fearful expression before lowering his voice. “Don’t you think I miss her too?”
“She was my sister!” Katniss cried, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She suddenly felt extremely exposed. What in the hell was she even doing here? Peeta obviously didn’t love her anymore, and here she was trying to play seductress when they were supposed to be going through paperwork. “No one misses her more than I do!”
“Katniss!” Peeta hissed, grabbing her by her arms. His head lowered, his lips just an inch or so away from hers. “She was my sister too!”
Her grey eyes widened, then narrowed as her face twisted into a scowl. “What the hell are you talking about?” she snapped, trying to yank herself free from his viselike grip.
Peeta loosened his hold slightly but didn’t let go, his thumbs now tracing soothing circles on her biceps. “It’s true, Katniss,” he said, his voice laced with melancholy. “You know it is. It’s why you left here. Why you left me. After she died, you saw her eyes every time you looked at me.”
She shook her head, refusing to acknowledge it, but deep down, in the furthest recesses of her being, she knew he was right. Peeta had always known her better than anyone. And now, with it out in the open, she could finally admit to seeing the resemblances she’d always tried to overlook. Prim’s hair had been almost the exact shade of ashy blonde as Peeta’s. Their eyes almost the same shade of cornflower blue. Prim could even draw and paint, although not as well as Peeta, whereas Katniss could barely draw a stick figure.
She slumped into his arms, and always being the gentleman, he reached around her for her shirt, pulling it back down over her head.
“When did you find out?” she asked, her voice muffled in his shoulder.
He reached again, this time off to the side, his hand landing on a piece of paper covered in messy handwriting. It was a letter, written to Peeta by his father.
“Here,” Peeta said, pushing the letter into her hand.
Katniss lifted her head, clearing her throat slightly before reading aloud.
“Dear Peeta,
I have a strong feeling that what I’m about to tell you will be surprising, but most likely not too shocking. You’ve always known of my fondness for the Everdeen girls, and for their mother. Lily and I were engaged to be married once. In fact, our wedding was only a month away when she ran off with James Everdeen, leaving me devastated and heartbroken. There are people who say that he came from a family of sorcerers; that his songs could almost bewitch those who heard them, and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have ever believed it. But there’s no other explanation that makes sense as to how Lily’s feelings for me could’ve changed so abruptly.
“When it became clear that Lily had fallen completely under James’s spell, I gave up, taking the coward’s way out, spending my guilt and heartbreak on liquor and other women. One of those women, I’m sorry to say, was your mother. She became pregnant with your oldest brother, and instead of casting her aside, I buried the rest of my soul and married her.
“It wasn’t until you were four years old that I saw Lily again. She came into the bakery one day, right at closing time, looking dazed and confused, like she’d just woken up from a long, deep sleep. For the first time in almost nine years, her eyes were clear of the fog I’d seen in them ever since she’d heard James singing.”
Katniss gasped, looking up at Peeta’s sympathetic eyes. “That’s when my father was sent away for work!” she said. Her gaze shifted, now staring off into the distance. “He was gone for almost four months. I knew Mom was sneaking out at night while he was away, when she thought I was asleep, but I only thought she was trying to replenish her herb collection.” She turned back to Peeta, her mouth agape. “She was meeting up with your father!”
She quickly scanned the rest of the letter, which described the heartbreak he experienced for a second time when Mr. Everdeen returned and Lily’s eyes took on that fogged, tortured look yet again, even though she was now pregnant with Primrose. It went on to detail how he helped to provide for Prim, and apologized over and over to Peeta, knowing that his indiscretions were what prompted Mrs. Mellark to turn against him.
Katniss’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s why she used to hit you?” she asked. “Your mom?”
Peeta nodded, his eyes downcast. “Not the only reason, but probably the main one.”
She looked up at him, the clear blue eyes that she used to get lost in, that wavy hair that was like silk beneath her fingertips. She reached up, brushing a wayward curl off his forehead. “So, was that the only reason why you loved me?” she asked. “Because my voice put some sort of spell on you? Is that why you’ve been okay without me for the last six years?”
His jaw twitched slightly as his arms stiffened around her. “Who says I’ve been okay without you?” He reached up his hands, tenderly cupping her face. “Katniss, you never sang enough for me to fall under any kind of spell. I love you, simply because I love you.”
One week ago, @andthisisthewonder opened our September challenge with the first part of our crazy story. You can find it here.
The second writer, @mtk4fun was given the first lines of the story (the same as the previous writer) and the last paragraph of what @andthisisthewonder wrote.
@mtk4fun had NO IDEA at all what was written between the lines.
Do you want to find out what she wrote ? It’s under the cut....
It was a mystery that needed to be unraveled. But it would have to wait. She had too much to do. Katniss spent the rest of the day sorting her mother’s belongings into piles. Toss. Donate. Save.
Tired, she surveyed her work. The Toss pile was the largest. It wasn’t a true pile because it included furniture that was spread throughout the house that she had stuck yellow post-its on.
She wanted to dispose of it as quickly as possible. The memories the items evoked were too painful. Especially the old couch that she and Peeta used to make out on.
The Donate pile included cake pans that reminded her of the times Peeta used to bake for her, towels they’d used when she taught him to swim in the lake, and blankets that they’d cuddled under while watching t.v.
The Save pile was the smallest. It contained a few family photos taken long ago when the future was a shiny and wonderful dream, not the nightmare it had turned into.
She’d put the photo with the key on top of the save pile; now she picked it up to look at it. What a strange picture for her mother to keep. She turned it over and studied the key. It was small and gold and didn’t look like it would fit a door lock. And she hadn’t found any locked boxes in the house.
Could the key open a safe deposit box at a bank? Maybe if it did, that would explain what the numbers meant.
Fortunately there was only one bank in town so it would be easy to find out if she was right.
After a good night’s sleep, surprisingly free of nightmares, she drove herself to First National.
She pushed the key across the counter. “Does this belong to one of your safety deposit boxes? I’ve been cleaning out my mother’s personal effects and I came across it.”
The red-headed girl picked it up and turned it over. “It doesn’t look like our current key, but we changed the boxes a couple of years ago and issued new keys to all of our customers. Maybe it’s one of the old ones.
“If you take a seat, you can ask the manager. He’s with a customer now.”
She was reading about car loans when she heard his voice.
“Katniss.”
Oh, no.
She’d hoped to avoid Peeta completely while she was in Panem. Just her luck to run into him at the bank, but maybe it was providential. Peeta might be able to solve her mystery.
“Why are you here?” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Instead of answering his question, she handed him the photo of her mother and his father with the four numbers written on the back of it, along with the key that had been taped next to the numbers.
“Why would my mother have this?”
Peeta took one look at the photo and went pale.
Next writer will be @finnicko-loves-anniec who submitted her part last week too - stay tuned for the next update :)
It was up to @titaniasfics to continue a crazy fic she knew almost nothing about - but the very first lines of the story and the two @nancymay left for her.
It’s now up to @hutchhitched to follow with a perfect count of 500 words ...
Please, readers, do keep in mind the authors had absolutely NO CLUE of what happened before they started writing ... we are publishing with a 10 days delay :) so ... the story’s a bit ahead :)
As usual, story’s under the cut.... (and yes, we’re still hoping for an alien invasion at some point !!!)
Katniss couldn’t stand the look of sympathy in his eyes as she fiddled with the clip. Her fingers trembled, and she swallowed hard against the lump in her throat as her anger rose. She was just about to let him have it when he placed his hand over hers and spoke so kindly, her heart clenched.
“Do you remember when she wore it?” At her nod, Peeta urged, “Will you tell me about it?”
“It was her favorite,” she murmured. “Prim was four, and Dad brought a pink ribbon home with him from work one day. Her eyes lit up, and she jumped up and down as he kissed Mom. He made her wait until after dinner, and then Mom sat her down to brush her hair and braid it with the ribbon as one of the plaits.”
“That sounds like a sweet memory.”
Katniss shot him a wry grin and tried not to notice how kindness radiated from his deep blue eyes.
“You’d think it would be, but Prim didn’t like the hairstyle when Mom was done. Four years old, and that girl threw a fit so big we called it the Reaping. I’m still not sure what was so upsetting to her, but the ribbon ended up tied around the neck of her favorite stuffed animal, a lamb she called Lady. After that, she insisted Mom pin her hair back with the clip she wore home from the hospital.”
“Prim always did have a flair for the dramatic, didn’t she?”
“Someone in our family had to. It sure wasn’t me, was it?”
Peeta shrugged before answering, “You kind of had other things on your mind once your dad died. You didn’t have time to indulge in theatrics.”
“Maybe.”
“Katniss, you don’t always have to take care of everyone. It’s okay to ask for help.”
“I don’t want to ask for help.”
“I think you made that pretty clear when you dumped me so I wouldn’t drop out of school for you.”
She shook her head and pulled away from him. As she crossed the room, she breathed in deeply and then exhaled as slowly as she could stand. Being around him made her feel too much, and she’d worked hard to shut down her emotions as her family dwindled to just her.
“You’d already done enough,” she said as she leveled her gaze at him.
He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at her. It was clear he was dismissing her reasoning, regardless of how sound it was. He’d called her stubborn continually when they were dating, but he was pretty good at refusing to back down too.
“I wanted to do more.”
And there it was. Exactly what she’d feared when they were together. He would have sacrificed himself for her if she hadn’t stopped him. Just like she realized Peeta’s father must have for her own mother before the Everdeens met and married.
“Well, I’ve never been very good at making friends. Or keeping them.”
