Afterwards, Tahno wordlessly and breathlessly removed himself from Korra, leaving her feeling exposed and sore, and clambered up from the bed, walking stiffly toward the bathroom and then shutting himself in. Still reeling, the young Avatar lay on her back for a long moment, eyes still shut as she pulled her legs closed and tried not to focus on the dull pain that remained after Tahno left. The clock still ticked on, and Korra didn't remember how long she had taken it – it had seemed to go on forever.

Finally, she raised her trembling hands from where they wrung the bed sheets and covered her face, throat tight and eyes stinging. Korra drew some long, shuddering breaths, before she tipped her knees to one side and let herself roll onto her side, and then onto her stomach, ignoring the ache in her body as she pushed herself onto her hands and knees and crawled tiredly to the pillows. She slid beneath the covers, keeping her back to the bathroom door and curling in on herself.

Not very much later, Tahno stepped out of the bathroom – she heard him, didn't look – and climbed into bed as well. She felt him approaching her from behind, heard him give a long, satisfied sigh, and when she felt him land a hand on her bare back, she let fury own her features.

"Don't touch me," she seethed into the darkness, not moving, aside from the trembling in her arms and legs.

Tahno was still for a beat, before taking back his hand and moving back to his own side of the bed. "Isn't that what you're here for?" he answered casually, sounding a little annoyed.

Korra balled her fist beneath her pillow. "I'm tired," she replied bitterly.

Tahno hummed a laugh and settled into his own pillow. "Fine," he decided, somewhat impetuously. "Good night."

Korra idly thought that there was nothing at all good about the night, so she said nothing, keeping her eyes shut and drawing even breaths. The clock ticked, echoing in her ear, just like the faint babble of a talk show on the radio in the next room. Tahno seemed to intend to leave the radio on all night, by the way he collected much of the bed covers to his side of the bed and cocooned himself in them. Thankfully, the bed was large and the sheets were larger, leaving enough to cover her.

Each part of Korra's body called for sleep, but the harder she focused on it, it escaped. Her mind wandered to thoughts of Tahno leaning over her, groaning loudly, and then she'd tear her mind away to think of better things – firebending. The feel of a flame in her palm, and the way the heat of battle thundered in her veins. Airbending. She needed to start airbending soon – why couldn't she get it? Tenzin … she probably should have told someone she would be gone for the night – but then, nobody had noticed last night.

Sleep. She needed to sleep.

Korra rolled onto her back, her body protesting with a wave of focused pain as she did, and she let a brief wince cross her face, before she blinked open her eyes and glanced over to Tahno. He was sprawled on his back, one arm draped over his head. His mouth, hanging open, was barely visible beneath the crook of his elbow. Korra glared at him – even briefly considered the consequences of murdering him in his sleep – before sighing through her nose and shutting her eyes again.

It was some short hours later, as Korra had fallen into an uneasy, fitful sleep, still half-listening to the radio, now playing only a fizz of static, that Tahno stirred awake and let out a long, sleepy hum as he shifted on the mattress toward her. She was awake as soon as she registered movement. He crawled beneath the covers over to her, slipping an arm around her naked middle beneath the sheets.

"Mm," he drawled lazily, still seeming half-asleep, his voice husky, "Ready for round two?" he teased, grinning in the dim light of pre-dawn.

Korra turned her head away, closing her eyes again and feigning sleep. Tahno put a wet kiss to the side muscle of her neck, trailing another down to one of the love bites on her skin. Her body was still aching, her muscles sore and her eyelids heavy with exhaustion, even as paranoia filtered through her thoughts.

Tahno chuckled lightly. "I know you're awake, Uh-vatar," he chided groggily.

Korra drew up her shoulders, trying to slither further under the covers. "Leave me alone," she mumbled, the words slipping from groggy lips.

The hand draped over her waist grasped her hip eagerly. "That wouldn't be any fun, now, would it?" he cooed against her collarbone.

Korra smacked her own hand over his on her bare skin. "Get off me," she growled threateningly, vexation overpowering her fatigue.

The Wolfbat was still for a beat, before lifting his face to stare at hers. Her head was turned away, but she parted her eyelids and glanced at him through the corner of her eye, brows down in ire. He was staring right back at her, looking just as provoked, his face slack apart from the angle of his brows and the narrowing of his eyes. "You belong to me tonight," he hissed sharply, fingers digging into the flesh of her hip.

Korra's eyes flashed like fire, teeth making an appearance for a moment. "If you try it, I'll break your fingers," she threatened, her voice barely above a whisper.

Tahno grinned again, delighted for a beat before he shoved himself up onto his knees, exposing their bodies and flinging the covers away in one swift swing of his arm. Korra grabbed for them, but they sailed away from her reach and a wave of cold swept over her exposed skin. A moment later, Tahno was lurking above her, eyes wide and greedy. "And kiss your friends' futures goodbye? I think not."

This time, both of her hips were grasped and he yanked her across the mattress into the space between his naked knees. Korra threw out her hands, thinking of fire, but none came. A second later he delved inside her and she screamed-

Korra jumped awake, eyes open and a sheen of sweat soaking her all over, sticking her to the bed sheets. She was still covered, lying on her back, arms crossed above the covers and short, panicked breaths in her lungs. The room was blue with the light of dawn, and she threw herself onto her elbows to look over to Tahno.

He was still asleep, limbs akimbo where he lay on his stomach, an arm hanging off the mattress toward the floor.

Quickly, Korra sat up and hunched over her knees, gathering her breaths and thrusting her fingers into her hair, her wolftails all hanging, tangled and loose. She swallowed a few times, thanking the spirits that she had just been dreaming, and then a tick-ticking reached her ears. Korra looked up, and now that the sun had begun to rise, casting dim blue light on Republic City, she finally saw the clock on the dresser, telling her that it was half past five in the morning.

Her body was still aching and begging for sleep, but she couldn't relax enough to get any rest from it. She glanced to Tahno, feeling like his prisoner for a treacherous minute, before she swung her legs off the bed, turning her back to him and putting her feet to the floor. Agonizingly slowly, she shifted her weight onto them and got to her feet, each moment expecting him to wake and tell her to come back for him to screw again.

She wasn't sticking around for that.

Korra almost considered showering there, but decided that she couldn't risk him sneaking in, or otherwise cornering her. She needed to get out as quickly as possible, without waking him. She slipped into the bathroom to pee, and then collected her underwear from the floor of Tahno's bedroom, pulling them on hastily, before she snuck into the main room, where the radio was playing an upbeat jazz tune.

She grabbed her rucksack from the floor and withdrew the folded change of clothes inside, before hurriedly pulling them on and shoving yesterday's clothes into the bag. Korra spared no time to fix her hair, only tugging out the tangled fastenings and letting it fall loose. Finally, she tied her pelt around her hips and shoved her feet into her boots, before silently opening the front door and making her escape. As soon as the door was shut behind her, she slung her back over her shoulder and power-walked to the stairs, racing down them eagerly.

Korra exploded out of the building at the ground floor and ran.

A/N: Hey guys. My brain is totally frazzled at the moment, but I just wanted to update so you could read this chapter. Don't have much to say, just hope you guys like it! I also really hope everyone was okay with the brief dream sequence.

So let me know what you think!

As usual, many thanks to LaughingSenselessly, several Guests, Raavaxvaatu, Pinnney and Autumn for reviewing chapter 20!

If you enjoyed, please leave a review!