She stalked into the apartment with all the authority and power of a whirlwind, knocking her metal-bending cuff against the counter as she passed through the kitchen and into the smoky dining room.

"Hello, Gentlemen. Nice night to go to jail, don't you think?" She scrutinized the men huddled around the table, cards dropping from their fingers in surprise and fear. Tahno was almost certain that Eel Eyed Eddie was wetting himself.

"Out," she commanded, and that one word, from the Avatar's lips, was enough for the men to fall over themselves, scrambling to get out the door.

It was bad for business.

The new Police Chief was a pain in the ass.

"Your tip was bad," she said, sitting in a now vacant chair and settling her feet on the tabletop, one foot over the other.

His lip curled at her lack of manners. He shook a long lock of hair away from his face, hiding his distaste. "Not my problem, Uh-vatar. The men come to play cards, not to talk. I can only give what information I'm given."

"For a price," she insinuated and Tahno's lips curled back, revealing his white teeth.

"Perhaps."

"Mm," she was unimpressed, one eyebrow cocked as she picked at her fingernails. "Well, we'll be needing another favor. We've almost got The Waterwhip cornered. He's put in a bid for the Badgermoles."

"And you need them to lose," he said matter-of-factly.

"Naturally. If we can take him down then the whole Pro-bending gambling ring will be balancing on toothpicks."

"Your confidence is as inspiring, as ever, Uh-vatar. But, what's in it for me?"

"We pay you well for your information and…covert assistance"

"Is that a compliment?" he purred.

"There aren't many men as underhanded as you, Tahno. Your lack of scruples amazes even the Uh-vatar," she mocked, lifting the still full glass of amber liquid, which one of the gamblers had left in their haste, to her lips. She downed the drink in one gulp, setting the cup coolly back on the table.

Tahno watched the condensation slide over the glass, the imprint of her fingertips left behind from her warm touch.

"I do what I can for our fine city," he said at last and Korra scoffed.

His grey eyes narrowed in her direction and she jutted out her chin, tilting her head in the direction of the cards still left on the table, "Deal."

"Thought you'd never ask."

It had become a routine with them, this kind of banter and these games. He owed her, for keeping him out of prison (and turning him into a snitch) when he was exposed for rigging matches as well as his other gambling practices that weren't quite within the law.

And she felt that she owed him. For not saving his bending when Amon had taken it, for not finding a way to return it after Amon had been defeated. Guilt was a wonderful tool. A tool that Tahno was good at manipulating for his benefit.

With his bending gone and his run in the Pro-Bending circuit officially over, he went back to gambling. He was good at it, never letting anything show on his face. He had always been good at cheating.

He shuffled the cards with pale, long-fingered, hands. He allowed her to cut them once, just so that he could brush his skin against hers when she took them. Just so that he could watch her squirm.

He smirked, raising his cigarette to his lips and taking a deep drag. He looked at her consideringly before dropping the cigarette into the ashtray and dealing the cards.

She stood no chance against him, he wasn't even sure that she knew how to play. This was just another one of her games; another excuse to linger, to push his buttons just like he pushed hers.

He was getting tired of dancing around the obvious. He wanted her, and he was sure that she wanted him as well.

"What are the terms?" She asked harshly, and he swatted at her boots until she dropped her feet to the floor.

He considered using their clothing as the chips, but decided against it. Strip poker was for horny children who just wanted a peek of skin. Tahno was here to win.

"Winner takes all," he said, his words heavy with innuendo and his expression dark enough to make even the Fully-Realized-Avatar blush.

She hated his shady little grin and those wide lips, he had a talented mouth; Quick with witty retorts and acerbic digs. She wondered if it would be talented elsewhere. Korra shifted uncomfortably in her seat, kicking off her boots, because she knew it would annoy him, and resting one sock-covered foot on her chair.

There was an unmistakable dare in the pull of her smile, "How do I know you're on the level?"

"You don't. Unless you want to bend me into shape?" this was farther than they had ever gone with this game of theirs and he wondered how far she would let him take it.

She pursed her lips, all prim and proper, "Why would I bend what can be bought?" she questioned, her words stinging.

He studied her, understanding body language was an important skill in both Pro-bending and gambling. He watched her closely, her eyes were slanted to the side and she peered up at him from under long lashes

She wasn't saying everything that her body was. There was more behind her words. She wasn't showing her hand and they hadn't even started playing cards yet.

He decided she was bluffing, she wanted him. He wouldn't fold, just yet.

"Why would you buy what is offered freely?"

This caught her attention, His meaning completely transparent for once. He wasn't talking about cards or his secret entail with the police department. He desired her, wanted to have her, and he was making that fact abundantly clear in the only language he really knew. Ambiguity and allusion.

Korra stared at him for three long beats before she doubled over, clutching her stomach and shaking with laughter.

Tahno could feel a pout coming to his lips and rubbed a hand over his forehead in frustration, quickly clearing the expression and replacing it with one of cold, calculating, indifference.

The brunette righted herself after several minutes, gasping for air and wiping her eyes. Tahno burned with anger. No one laughed at him in his own home. Not even the avatar.

He could feel the storm rising in him and as Korra whooped again, her laughter ringing through the air once more, the former Wolf-Bat captain snapped.

He was out of his chair in an instant, his hands clutching the arms of the chair that the muscular woman occupied. He pushed out his chest, squared his shoulders, and craned his neck, invading her space and getting close enough to share her breath.

Her blue eyes were open wide in shock, her laughter cutting off and sticking in her throat. She inhaled sharply and Tahno watched the way her eyes shifted in the yellow light of the small, plain, chandelier overhead. The Avatar's eyes had changed over the years; they were no longer the naïve and innocent cerulean of when they had first met. They were harder now, a shaper sapphire that matched her battle hardened body and scared skin.

Dark hands settled on his chest, burning his skin through the cotton of his button-up, and shoving him away. He stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet in an undignified dance before falling back into his chair.

The chair legs teetered back from his momentum, and Tahno was sure that he was going to crash to the floor. He had just enough breath in his lungs to spew out a line of curses at the woman before she grabbed the back of his chair, near his head, and set it back on all four legs.

The grey eyed man moved to stand, to demand she leave. To get in her space and yell until she bended him right out the window but his movement was halted by a stockinged foot slamming into his chest and holding him in place.

He glared up at her, hating the way she looked down her nose at him with her arms crossed over her chest. She leaned forward, her toes digging painfully into his breast.

"I don't do well with intimidation," she offered as if in explanation, her words fanned over his face, carrying the scent of the scotch she had pilfered from his table.

It was too much, his eyes traveled the lines of her body, taking in her stance and the line of her ass as it curved into her thigh and then lower to her calf. She wasn't paying attention to her center of balance. Tahno smirked, seeing his opening, in one swift movement he swiped his hand under her other leg, tugging just behind the knee until she toppled backwards, onto the table top.

He stood over her, his arms spreading in an arch over the wooden table, sending glassware and cards crashing to the floor boards. He stood between her legs, snatching her wrists and securing them with strong fingers when she tried to fight her way back up.

Korra's skin was flushed with anger, she felt like she could spit at the man staring down at her in cold eyed victory. She struggled against his grip, tugging at her hands and shifting her hips.

Tahno gasped at her movement and Korra stilled. The pale skinned man pressed down against the apex of her thighs more strongly, allowing her to feel his reaction to their newfound position.

Her chest was heaving and her throat was dry. She looked up into his eyes, dark as slate and heavy lidded with need. She could feel a familiar warmth pooling in her belly and wetness seeping between her legs as she rolled her hips against his in one fluid undulation, testing his firmness.

He snarled at her and Korra surged up, freeing her hand and wrapping her arm around his neck, pulling his mouth down to hers.

He tasted like honey and smoke. His mouth opened smoothly over her own, sending sparks of wet heat tingling across her skin and down her spine. She groaned as he captured her bottom lip between his and sucked it, tantalizingly slow. He pulled back briefly, taking in her lusty expression and kiss swollen lips before delving back in with a gentle pressure that burned.

Experienced hands traveled the landscape of her skin, following the flow of her neck, his thumb sliding over the hollow of her throat and over the curve of her collar bone. She arched her back, gasping for air as she pulled her mouth away from his.

Those talented lips found skin elsewhere, tongue and teeth trailing after his fingertips, lavishing circles into the soft flesh of her throat while his hands teased her breasts through her shirt. He bit her nipple through the cotton and she moaned, holding his head to her chest.

Her strong body was plaint against his own as he grinded against her, nudging her hips. He moved over her, settling himself into a better angle so that he could feel the shape of her sex through her pants creating a beautiful friction.

He captured her lips once more, suckling on her slick tongue and running his own over the ridges of her palate. She purred, her legs wrapping more snuggly over his hips, little addictive sounds spilling from her lips.

He traced his fingers down her abdomen and between their hips, his palm rubbing over her sex. This was going too fast, the room was spinning with heat. the cloying scent of their arousal and sweat was overwhelming.

He pulled away, his fingers toying with the buttons on his shirt and giving her the time to end this before it went too far. She noticed his momentary hesitation, a glint in her eyes. They both knew how this would end; her eyes narrowed at him and she bucked her hips, daring him to stop. She wouldn't fold either.

He undid the buttons of his shirt with quick snapping fingers, shrugging it off his shoulders before helping her to slide her shirt and chest binding over her head. Her breasts bounced lightly and he held them, squeezing the supple flesh and cupping them in his hands, his thumbs rolling over dusky nipples.

She pulled her gloves off, letting them fall to the floor before reaching for the button of his pants. He was shoving them down his legs, his erection springing to the air as she shimmied her own pants down to her ankles, where he fisted the material in his hands and tugged until they fell away to join his in a messy heap.

This wasn't a time to admire or tease, that could come later. At some other time and place. This, Right now, was about desperation and need, Desire and passion, a battle of warm touch and wet heat.

He entered her roughly, his breathing ragged and a groan expelling from him as he was surrounded by her. She was so tight that he could feel his legs quivering with the need to just move. And then he was, his nails digging into the plump flesh of her ass as he thrust into her.

He leaned over her, His tongue swirling over her nipple, his mouth searing hot. She looped her fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp in abandon. She was screaming with her need for release. The pleasure running through his body was intense but he forced himself to hold out, to wait for her.

He took her, hard and fast, slamming into her blindly, sparks of fireworks appearing behind his eyelids. He could feel her pulsing around him, her inner walls clenching him as she came with a cry.

The power of her orgasm sent him reeling over the edge. He pumped into her feverishly before pulling out and spilling onto the dark skin of her belly.

Tahno collapsed over her, bracing himself on his elbows on either side of her head. He nuzzled her throat, memorizing the taste of her sweat, the smell of her hair. He wasn't sure where this would lead, he had never seriously thought that they would find themselves entwined this way and he wasn't quite ready to give it up just yet. She was panting under him, smooth hands sliding over his back and around to his chest.

All too soon she was pushing him away and sitting up to glare at him with those sapphire eyes. He carefully schooled his expression to one of boredom, hoping that the pink splotches on his skin from the roughness of their coitus didn't take away from the picture he was trying to create- His defense mechanism of appearing to not give a damn.

"Well, pretty boy. Do you have a shower?" she asked, rolling her eyes at his display and stepping down from the table on shaking legs. She trailed two fingers along his collar bone as she passed, smacking his ass along the way, before walking down the hall that she figured must house his bedroom and, therein, the bathroom.

"Coming?" she called lightly over her shoulder; knowing, with all the confidence of the Avatar, that he would.