In a moment, anything can change and nothing is ever the same. Tarrlok's one moment of weakness becomes bitter as lives become intertwined with his.
No matter how much he tried, he found himself losing his self control.
Each of their nights, he took her.
It brought them further and further away - and yet brought him closer and closer to her. He would wear her down that she would collapse on the mattress. He would watch her sleep, stroking her matted waves.
She didn't even have to lure him. He would jump on her and take her. She was submissive that he forgotten what was right.
"I'm addicted to you," he whispered, brushing her bangs from her face. He pulled the sheets over her, letting the light material hug her body.
Korra faintly nodded, not listening to him. She was drowsy, worn out as usual. He held her arm, "I have to move you a little bit, okay?"
She didn't respond. She was already fast asleep.
Tarrlok chuckled, slowly water bending all the liquids inside of her. He moved her legs with a flick of his wrists and slowly made the liquids vanish. He rested his head on her shoulder, listening to her breathing. This wasn't right...this wasn't.
He wanted her but he couldn't keep her.
She was using him...she needed the money for her reasons that he hadn't decoded. Whatever her reason was, it must been horrible since she had to stoop down to prostitution. He loved her...even though he knew well it wasn't real love. Real love was pure, innocent...this wasn't. He took her innocence and others before her. He was using her the way she was using him - out of selfish need. He held her, stroking her arm. Her arms were bruised by him...her whole body was.
He rose up, staring at his lover. He faintly smiled. Flawed. Seductive. Smart. Beautiful. He watched her sleep the whole night, unable to leave. He didn't want to leave. He had no heart to wake her. Was there a way to have her, he wondered. He wanted affections reciprocated. He wanted her to have a normal life...but he realized that a normal life would have him out of the picture. She would go to college and focus on a career while he was long craving a wife and family. If he waited for her to pursue her dreams, he would be too old to be a father. He could not steal her away from her potential. He wasn't like the others...but he was similar and shared the same shame.
His eyes flickered. She didn't deserve to be here for the rest of the night. At least a better place...he bloodbended her and dressed her and himself. Tarrlok scooped her in his arms along with his briefcase and her backpack. He would let her stay in his place. He didn't know if her parents wondered or searched for her but he knew they were unaware, just like the topic of her sleeping with anonymous middle aged men.
Tarrlok laid her on his mattress. He was careful not to wake her. He watched her curl beneath the silk sheets. She had a small tiny smile on her sleeping face.
She was still innocent, he realized.
Korra knew how to seduce him but she was still a child.
She needed guidance.
He couldn't touch her anymore. He was affecting her. Her grades were slowly dropping, especially in her math class. She was at a D in the class while the rest of her A classes were slowly becoming B's.
Tarrlok shook his head...how was he going to help her? She never opened up to him...and yet he knew things that no one else did. He rubbed his forehead, looking at her for the last time before going downstairs to sleep on the couch. He was going to leave her to herself. Tarrlok had four spare rooms but he felt that he didn't deserve to sleep on a bed tonight.
"Tarrlok?"
His eyes opened to the sound of his voice. He sat up, yawning. He waited for his eyes to adjust before squinting. There was Korra, standing before him, with a blanket draped over her shoulders. "Korra..." he coughed. He stared at the clock. 3:30 am. "What are you doing up?"
"I was looking for you and it scared the crap out of me to realize that I was in another place."
"I'm sorry," he swallowed. "This is my home-
"Now I know where to egg a house this year," she smirked to herself.
"And I thought it's a cleaner place for you to sleep. You were really tired tonight. You requested me to stop after twenty minutes and you fell asleep a minute later." Tarrlok said formally. Usually he would take her for hours, without pulling out.
"Oh..." Korra blinked, stunned. "Thank you."
There was a long silence.
"Tarrlok?" Korra finally said something.
"Yes?"
"Can I sleep with you?"
He jerked back on the couch. He was hesitant. He didn't know what to say. Of course, he knew that she meant it in only sleeping. Nothing else. But why would she want to sleep on a couch when she had a whole bed to herself? "Or course," he calmly said. He had his arm out, letting her lie down on his arm. Tarrlok wrapped his arm around her, pulling the blanket over them. He was uncomfortable but pleased. She wanted to sleep with him. It felt nice to have her in his arms.
Was it wrong that he wanted it?
"Can I tell you something?" she whispered, curling in his arms.
"What is it?"
"I'm not used to sleeping without you."
Korra woke up to the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. She instantly stood up, gathering her blanket - or the blanket she claimed as hers.
She went to the cold tiled kitchen, finding bags of McDonald's deluxe breakfast trays. She felt her mouth water. Hash browns. Crispy, hash browns. The smell of coffee. Tarrlok was sitting, already eating. He looked up from his newspaper and smiled. "You're finally up," he had a smug look on his face.
She stuck her tongue out as she sat down across from him.
"Good morning," he smiled.
"Good Sunday morning to you."
She began grabbing a tray of food. She made a happy face out of ketchup on her eggs, already stuffing a forkful of eggs and bacon. "Thank you," she wiped her mouth. She was pleased, ignoring the boundaries they crossed. He took her to his home but it didn't matter to her. He was already sleeping with her. The only worst thing to top it off was getting pregnant or eloping. It was a long time since she had McDonald's. No one gotten her anything really.
"You're welcome."
"You look cute in the morning," she teased. His hair was messy and he was wearing a blue bathrobe over his wrinkled clothes that he wore the other night.
He rolled his eyes. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Don't," she grinned, jokingly. She took a bite out of her hash browns and drowned it with ketchup. She was in heaven. They ate in silence, enjoying the food and each others' presence. "So what are we doing today?" she asked, her eyes were bright blue.
Tarrlok raised his eyebrow. "Don't you need to go home? Wouldn't your parents start looking for you?"
"No." Her mother was dead. "My parents don't care if I'm out all night." Her father was in jail serving time for being framed of murder.
"Very well then."
She liked that about him. He didn't need to know the details. "So what are we doing today?"
"Where do you want to go? Anywhere you want."
"Really?" She didn't want to be a spendthrift or be wasting his money.
He nodded. "Anywhere you want. Money's no limit for me."
In that case..."The zoo! I want to see polar bears and penguins," her eyes lit up.
Tarrlok laughed.
They returned to his home six hours later.
"Thank you for taking me to the zoo," Korra grinned, clutching on to her stuffed polar bear and balloon. She clutched him by the arm, rubbing her cheek on his arm.
He laughed. "You act like a child."
"I'm a kid at heart!" she said proudly.
"You acted like you never been to the zoo before."
"I haven't," Korra admitted.
"You haven't?" he looked at her. "You're a junior and you never went to a zoo before?"
She shook her head. Her parents couldn't afford it. "My parents always worked at different times," she answered in a clear lie.
"Oh," he bit his lip. "Well I hoped I gave you a good experience."
"You did!" she laughed, remembering when the animals at the petting zoo surrounded him. She held on to her stuff animal. "Thank you for everything," she smiled. During the first twenty minutes at the zoo, she was regretful for agreeing to go outside with him in broad daylight but she realized that he was just being nice for once. He wasn't buying her but she knew he was making up for what he did for the past two months. "Thank you," she leaned and kissed him on the cheek.
Tarrlok took a step back, staring at her. "Korra...I'm afraid you have to leave."
She blinked several times, dropping her stuff animal and balloon. "Why?"
"You shouldn't be kissing me," he stared at her. He was pale, shocked that she kissed him. Korra thought he would be pleased that she kissed him.
She kissed him out of gratitude. Nothing else. It wasn't like she liked him. "And you shouldn't be going around fucking me!" she screeched. She didn't care that she was using foul language.
"Please...please leave."
"I want to stay here," she whispered. Did he want her still?
He bit his lip. "Fine. But I have work so you can relax."
She came to his office an hour later. Korra was bored and she didn't want to do her homework. He rejected her earlier...and he never rejected her. Was he going to tell someone about her? She was worried. She needed the money.
Korra found him in his office, focusing on grading essays.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Tarrlok looked up. "We can't continue this," he said, not even bothering to look from his papers.
It wasn't like she wanted him...but his words stung her for some reason. She sat on his desk, staring at him.
"I'm your teacher. I can't sleep with you anymore. I care about you too much to continue using you, Korra. I won't give up on helping you but I can't treat you like your my lover."
It was strange. For weeks, she wished he would come to his senses and once he had...she wished he didn't. There was something inside of her that was troubling her but she didn't know what. She didn't like him. She was repulsed by him but she couldn't help but to feel hurt.
"Please," he looked up at her. His eyes were red. "Just go."
Tarrlok was depressed. It felt like he was letting her go. He loved her even though he knew his love for her wasn't healthy or right. It was obvious that was she becoming attached to him. He couldn't hurt her. "Please," he repeated, staring at her. "Just go."
Korra shook her head, tears were streaming out of her eyes. "One more, last time," she whispered.
"We can't."
He was already too deep with her. He was addicted to her - her body, her soul, her heart. His eyes locked on his papers and he continued to grade the essays.
Tarrlok jolted back. He stared down at his crouch, finding her on her knees and in between his legs.
"Don't," he tried to push her but his body wanted her.
He watched her unzip his pants and grabbing his limp cock. He felt himself swelling and becoming hard as she began to massage and grope him. He can't let her do this. She can't touch him and play with his emotions. She can't go around sleeping with other men for money.
She let go of him to pull his pants and boxers off. He was too caught by her watery eyes. She looks so weak...he needed to help her. Spirits...could he have her? "Please...you're the only person nice to me. Please...d-don't l-leave me."
Tarrlok wiped her tears. "I won't leave you."
"But you want us to be nothing else but a teacher and student."
"That's because that's what we are."
"But if we are, we won't be that close. I won't see you as much. I need you. Ev-even though we don't talk about my problems...j-just you being there means a lot to me." Korra grabbed him by the cock and stroked him.
"Korra, you're making this harder on both of us," he said shakily. Why was the right thing so painful? He was attached to her. He didn't want to leave her.
"I can make you happy," she whispered, leaning down.
His eyes widened. She was licking him slowly on his tip. Tarrlok moaned. She never did this to him at all. The most she did was touched him there but not giving him a blow job. Korra began to suck on his ball sack, her hands all around his base. Tarrlok closed his eyes...it felt so good...he didn't want to stop her.
"I can touch you anywhere and any way you like," she offered desperately. Korra found his tip and began to suck him.
He let out a growl, as her pace began to become fast. She was seducing him again. It felt so good...he felt his cock growing inside her warm mouth. He stroked her hair, trying to be gentle with her. She shoved his cock deeper inside her mouth. He moaned, panting. She was driving him insane with lust. He tilted his head back, begging her to suck him harder. He came inside of her, watching her struggle to suck all his semen.
She was acting like the Korrra he met, not the little girl at the zoo.
She pulled back, letting his cock squirt her. She wiped her face and mouth, staring at him. She gave him a blowjob...she never gave anyone a blowjob before.
They stared at each other.
He pulled her on his lap and wrapped his arms around her. They kissed each other for the first time. They wanted each other. Both of them didn't know what but they knew they wanted each others' body. It wasn't healthy but they rather regret than be in pain.
"One more last time?" he asked, stroking her face. He held her, trying to keep her in place before charging to take off his shirt.
"One more last time."
He pulled out her, yanking her gently to rest on his chest. She buried her face in his chest. They were covered by a thick blanket but the only way she was warmed was when she was be close to him. They slept with each other four times. Each time they pulled out regretting it but they couldn't stop from going back.
"You have to leave," he told her, kissing the top of her head. "If you don't leave in five minutes I won't be able to let you go. If you stay...I might fall in love with you and I won't let you leave me."
Five minutes passed but she still stayed. She kissed his bittersweet smile. "I don't want you to let me go."
A/N: LONG CHAPTER.
Korra and Tarrlok know what they're doing is wrong and they are aware it isn't normal or love.