I Think I Love You

A/N: I wrote this on a whim because I had a bad case of Tahnorra feels, and suddenly had a dash of inspiration. I've been feeling very dry of ideas, so working on oneshots is going to be my thing until I get back on track with my incomplete stories. This piece sucks a bit, since I drifted into exhaustion at the end and ended up with how it closes. I hope it's okay though, just felt like writing a bit of my favorite LoK ship. Let me know what you think though!

Disclaimer: No. I own zero. Nilch. Nada. My heart breaks.

Long, narrow fingers drifted slowly along glowingly smooth tanned skin, leaving a burning trail despite the cool breeze that fluttered the curtains at the large windows, which let in pale luminous moonlight that cast the minimalist bedroom into an almost ethereal glow. Lips touched skin, and a little squeal of delight broke the thick silence as a strong arm wound around a naked waist, silenced by a touch of the lips.

"Tahno, you're insatiable," Korra groaned, pulling a plush pillow over her head even as she enjoyed the protective arm slung over her hip and the delicate kisses that were lavished along her shoulder blades. Tahno growled in reply to her comment, his arms pulling her closer into his softly chiseled chest with a barely noticeable touch of possessiveness.

"You only learned that now, my dear Uhvatar? After all those long, enduring lessons you received at my hands?" His seductive, dark tone sent tingles down the Avatar's spine and the faintest stirrings of desire kindled inside her again, unable to quell it. She was vulnerable to him, something she wished she could help and it was the same for the former probender, who couldn't get enough of the stubborn Uhvatar. She wasn't one of the girls that came and went. No, she was more than that, someone that Tahno wouldn't admit to that he'd grown to love her, to cherish her. It began as a way of venting the stress and anger, mutual feelings and intentions but it inevitable blossomed into something more. She wanted to fight it, and he found himself wanting her to give into it.

The darkness hid her flaming cheeks as Korra smacked his arm in response, suddenly aware that his hand had slid down to tantalizingly stroke her hip, sending licks of desire coursing through her again.

"I'm tired, and it's late. Go to sleep, pretty boy," the Avatar scowled, resolutely turning her back fully to him and hugging the expensive bed sheets to her bare frame. Her blue eyes slid closed, the warmth and comfort around her sending her into a peaceful state as the vestiges of sleep began to pull her into its embrace.

Korra received a rude awakening when the sheets were yanked from her, causing the tanned beauty to yelp and shiver against the sudden cold that hit her body forcefully. Tahno had grumpily snatched the sheets away, wrapping himself within them and turning his back to her. A scowl twisted Korra's features as she glared at his strong, pale back, arms crossing across her chest.

"Do you mind? I can feel your eyes scrutinizing my backside and it's a bit hard to fall asleep when you make me feel so self-conscious," Tahno lazily said with a hidden smirk. Let's see how Korra liked this.

"Yes, in fact, I do mind! Would it hurt to share the sheets with me?" she demanded, nose wrinkled and eyes still indignant.

"Oh, yep. My sheets, so go get your own."

Tahno rolled onto his stomach and snuggled into his pillow, fully aware that the white sheets had pulled down slightly to allow the pale moonlight to flood across his almost translucent back, attracting Korra's eyes. Unable to help herself, she silently admired his beautiful, long, lean frame that she had felt pressing against her so many times before. His usually immaculate hair was tousled and messy, which was… well, it was sexy.

Damn it. Don't do this now, Korra. She exhaled deeply, before lying back and staring at the ceiling, fully aware of the gorgeous man lying beside her; a man that was desired by nearly every woman who remotely knew anything about probending, and still retained his desirability even after his fall from grace. And he chose her out of all the beautiful women of Republic City. Well, they did start as 'workout buddies', as labeled Asami, but it had grown into something more and Korra knew it. It became extremely clear when he got more protective of her if Mako tried to pick a fight, and sometimes, he looked at her with this certain look in his eyes. It was the look of a man in love. He never said anything, and neither did Korra. Things were as they had always been. Korra would leave the temple several evenings a week and they would spar, drink, talk and eventually wake up entangled in each other's arms. But now, she could feel the tension between her and Tahno, a building tension that wasn't necessarily bad, but left her feeling conflicted with herself.

Korra couldn't restrain herself. Shifting closer to his warmth, she reached out a hand to touch his soft locks of hair, letting the strands slip through her fingers like the finest silk. A grunt left his lips and he seemed to edge away, a surreptitious smirk on his lips. A frown furrowed Korra's brow and she pulled at the sheet, hard. The force sent Tahno to the edge of the large bed, nearly falling off and he jolted up with annoyance, silvery grey eyes drilling into her vivid blue ones.

"I thought you wanted to sleep, why are you bothering me? Make up your mind, Uhvatar," he drawled, before lying back down and pulling the sheet up again. His eyes shot open when he felt a gentle weight settle onto him, and Tahno was met with the utterly, devastatingly enticing image of the blissfully bare Avatar smirking down at him with the most smoldering blue eyes he had ever seen. Oh, fucking Spirits.

Her thick waves billowed around her shoulders and her lips were twisted into an amused half-smile, taking in Tahno's flustered reaction and extremely pleased.

"I made up my mind," she whispered, leaning down to sprinkle small, heated kisses along the column of his long neck, making the ex-bender loll his head into the pillow in absolute pleasure. The kisses left little sears in their path, and Tahno reached up a hand to touch her waist and pull her against him more tightly.

"Great choice," he smugly murmured, gently grabbing her face and pulling her down for a languorously slow kiss, tongue sweeping against her bottom lip. She parted her lips, and hummed in bliss as his tongue flicked against hers teasingly, knees tightening around his narrow, gorgeous hips above the thin layer of muslin that separated skin from skin.

His teeth bit into her bottom lip, pulling a hiss of pain and enjoyment from her as he faintly tasted the blood and soothed the momentary pain with a gentle brush of his tongue. One of his hands firmly grasped the back of her neck as her fingers knotted into his hair, the only time she could roughly handle his hair without a reprimand and scowl, heatedly engaging in a battle of dominance between lips, tongues and teeth. Korra felt his entire frame stiffen underneath her, and snickered as she ground into him lightly, pleased at the groan that came out of his lips, muffled by her mouth against his. She dragged her lips away, evilly smiling at the look of absolute disappointment on his face from the loss of contact and rolled onto her side, facing him as her fingers took a stroll down the planes of his fit chest. A small smile quirked on Tahno's lips as he turned to face her, eyes traveling along her fine cheekbones, the thick lashes and kissable pout that seemed to always help her get what she wanted. He had fallen for her, and the former Wolfbat had fallen hard. It was at moments like these that his heartstrings seemed to pull and twist, from not knowing what she was thinking and whether she even reciprocated his feelings. Tahno was surprised he had fallen for Korra, having never thought about committing to one person and settling down. Perhaps it was the way he lived his life when he had everything he could ever want in the world. But then he lost his claim to everything he owned, and she helped him, pulled him out of the ashes that were his world. He had changed inside.

His fingers brushed gently along the curve of her neck, and he could practically feel her melt underneath his touch by the way she sighed and how her whole body seemed to go slack. Korra's hand touched his, and gently pried it off her heated skin, pushing it away.

"I think I should return to the temple now," she murmured, propping her head on a raised arm as her eyes gazed directly at his half-closed ones. Her expression was unreadable, but inside, the young woman was in the same turmoil as her lover. The pair of them had established that all of this was a mutual favor, so why did she find herself wanting more than that? Korra found herself suddenly unable to lie here beside him in such an intimate state and have to tell herself that her feelings were trivial when she had long realized they weren't.

Tahno's eyes popped open and he found himself a bit upset at her words, a frown creasing his otherwise smooth forehead as he pulled himself up against the plump pillows that leaned against the upholstered headboard. What in the hell?

"I thought you wanted to sleep," he muttered, confused by her sudden turn of direction. It was only 1am, not even the usual time she rose to dress and head to the temple before breakfast time.

"I did. But I just suddenly feel like… Ugh, it's nothing," she replied, inwardly sighing as she made to push herself off the huge bed and retrieve her clothes from the bathroom until a hand gently enclosed around her wrist.

Korra turned to look at Tahno in surprise, and was met with an expression she had never seen on him before. It was pleading. She had the strongest urge just to launch herself at him and confess every little thought she had ever kept about him. How she wanted to hear him tell her that perhaps, he had grown to love her after all the time they've been with each other, that he didn't want her to go. She wished she could reveal that he seemed to inhabit her dreams all the time, to the point where he was all she could think about sometimes. Helping him through his crisis had made her feel much more attached and affectionate toward him. But Korra didn't. She just looked at him, both quietly gazing each other for the longest time before Tahno suddenly pulled her into his arms, tightly.

"Don't go tonight, stay with me," he whispered, hands gently running through her loose brown waves, hit with the impulse to tell her how beautiful she looked with it down instead of in the stupid little ponytails that he always wanted to snip off or pull. He didn't know why he suddenly blurted that out, but the fact that one day all this would stop was always somewhere in his mind and he would lose her.

"What are you saying?" Korra breathed, not realizing how probing her comment was until she felt Tahno's fingers stop for a moment before they moved to her chin, raising it to meet her eyes with his intense ones.

"Uhvatar…" Tahno didn't know how to go about it. He was so taken by how soft and luminous her eyes were in the dim lighting of the room and how nice she felt in his arms that he lost his words for a moment.

"I think I love you, Korra. And I don't want to see you have to leave in the middle of the night again," he mumbled into her ear, pressing his nose into her sweet-smelling hair and inhaling. Spirits, he needed her more than he believed he did.

Korra. He had called her Korra. Not Uhvatar or something snide. It was probably the third or fourth time he had used her actual name, and she hesitated for a second before tentatively wrapping her arms around his middle, burying her face into his shoulder.

"You called me Korra," she whispered, hands resting against his back, before pulling her face back to rest her forehead against his, their noses brushing.

"I did. And I also said I love you, and I don't want you to leave," he dryly replied, tenderly trailing a finger along her jawline. "I realize I need you more than I told myself that I did."

"Then I won't leave," she whispered, eyes closing as she felt his lips move inaudibly in her hair, silent words of love.

"Good."

Tahno held her tightly, his arm around her waist as he slowly drifted to sleep with a feeling of completion in his heart as Korra listened to his heartbeat and steady breaths before she herself was lured into a blissful, fulfilled sleep, a heavy weight suddenly lifting from her and vanishing forever.