A/N

IRockYourSocks, your reviews have caused me to break out when I am in the middle of class. Although I get really stern glares, I appreciate the reviews more than I care about the trouble I get in to for laughing.

I love the reviews you all give! They're hilarious and I enjoy reading them more than I can express! It's wonderful to know that I'm not just the only Howl fan in the world :) These reviews are my motivation, and if I start to get stuck on one part, I immediately read them to keep going. Thanks so much for them!

Chapter 17

Howl woke with his hands tightly wrapped around Korra, his face buried in the crook over her neck, his lips placed gently against the softest part of her throat. Her legs were weaved in between his own, the soft skin sending shoots of desire running through his body. His blood was on fire with longing as his lips moved to her jawbone. The reaction increased when she shivered so slightly in approval. "Korra," He whispered.

"Mmm." She mumbled, his breath soft against his cheek. Howl smiled and found her hand, taking it with his own. His fingers filled the crevices like a puzzle piece and he lifted it gently to kiss her knuckles. A smile spread across her face and she shifted, her eyes still closed, resting her head on his bare chest. Her smooth hair left him nearly gasping for breath as the sensual smell of jasmine wrapped around him. "Let me sleep." She begged.

Howl chuckled low in his throat and kissed her forehead. He wanted nothing more than to stay by her side in this bed, with his lips on hers until they were both so raw and swollen that it hurt to touch. But he had his duties and she had her Avatar stuff that he would never understand. So he squeezed her hand once before letting it go and moving from out of the sheets. He caught sight of himself in the bathroom mirror; his hair was sticking straight up one side, the other side laying flat. His eyes were alive, just like the rest of his body.

He glanced back at Korra to see her watching him with pleased interest. He felt a stupid lopsided grin form on his mouth as he pulled on his shirt and thicker pants. He groin burned furiously as he struggled to pull on his uniform, feeling her observing eyes on him as he struggled to put on his breastplate. As he finished tightening the dark blue cloak around his throat, he heard the mattress squeak and turned to see her moving towards him. In her hands was his blue, silver and white helmet. Howl's stomach twisted as she gingerly reached up and laced her arms around his throat, kissing his soft lips with as smooth of a force as she could muster. Howl felt himself moan softly, his hands rising to cup her cheek with his as he tried to return the high she was giving him.

Korra didn't know how he managed to do it, but her simple peck had turned into a deep battle for victory. Howl's teeth grazed the bottom of her lip as their breathing quickened, the touches full of need and want filling Korra's mind. She ran her hand down Howl's tunic, her reach getting farther and farther each time.

Then Howl jumped back, his eyes wide. Korra frowned, kicking herself when she realized how close she'd been to his most secret part. She handed him his helmet with a sheepish grin, kissing him once more. "I love you." She whispered, feeling for sure she meant it now.

Howl grinned uncontrollably, the heat surging through his blood like a train surging down the tracks. He kissed her on the forehead before sliding on the final part of his uniform. "I love you too," He whispered, standing so close to her that they were practically glued, their lips only inches apart. Korra gasped as his words hit her, sending sensual shivers down to her most private region and causing her to quiver. Howl untangled himself from her as slowly as humanly possible before he opened the door and let go of her hand. He felt empty without her presence.

"Howl!" Sitch's voice startled him as the larger man slammed him against the snowy wall, his hand covering his mouth and nose. Howl kicked, struggling against the man's grip, losing air quickly. His childhood came rushing back, the memories of bullies surrounding him with their greedy hands ready to rip him apart. No matter how hard he kicked, how loud he screamed, they always managed to claw him in so shape or form that his mother would question about. When they choked him, they nearly killed him, but he was too afraid of them to do anything about it. "What the hell were you thinking?" Sitch hissed, pressing him into the open spot behind Korra's building.

Howl closed his eyes as his chest burned, his body screaming from the lack of air. His grip against Sitch's increased and he brought up his knee to his friend's stomach, flipping control over so that he had the power. His lungs were struggling to catch the air around them, his nails digging into the other guard's exposed wrists. "What the hell are you talking about?" He managed in between pants.

Sitch kicked him in the stomach and he recoiled, losing his hold on the bigger guard. He scrambled to his feet and waited for his supposed friend to throw the first punch, his breathing still ragged. Finally, Sitch quietly shrieked in anger and pointed to Korra's room. Howl flinched. "I'm talking about that little incident you had with making out with the Avatar!" Before he could emit another word, Howl slammed his friend into the icy wall with a massive thud.

"Listen, I can explain." He stated, his face inches away from his comrades. Howl opened his mouth and started to say something, but no words came. What was there to explain? He'd finally been caught, he'd finally lost. His worst nightmare of losing Korra was about to come true. His heart squeezed weakly, trying to keep beating even when it hurt.

Sitch saw the struggle in the young man's eyes and froze. "Wait… wait….This has been going on for a while, hasn't it? This is why you haven't been early to watch anymore? Because… because you've been fucking each other—"

"Sitch!" Howl snarled, covering his friend's mouth in humiliation. "I'm a virgin! You don't have to worry about that!" Sitch bit his palm and he recoiled, wiping his hand against his uniform in disgust. The man's face was cynical and judging but he made no movement to respond. Howl sighed and pushed himself away. "I'm not like that. I love her."

Sitch waited until Howl turned his back to him before he let the surprise fill him. It was true; Howl was the closest in age relation to the Avatar and the youngest one of them all. He'd suspected that the seventeen year old was more… different. Someone who fantasized too much and let his life waste away without finding the one for him or ever getting laid. But seeing Howl's head lowered in defeat caught his surprise. The kid was telling the truth. "Look, Howl…." He started, but found that nothing he could say would help. His friend was royally screwed either way. "I didn't… I mean, I…."

"You didn't understand." Howl muttered, kicking the snow without hesitation. "I know that, Sitch, I'm not dumb."

"Never said you were, kid. But falling in love with her may just have been the stupidest thing you've ever done. I just want to protect you from getting your ass kicked or your heart broken." Howl turned around and saw the truth in the older man's eyes. His heart jumpstarted and he bit his lip, positive that he was showing all the surprise and thankfulness in him. "Just… can you be any more careful than walking out of her room with the biggest smile on your face?"

Howl exhaled and nodded. He still felt the happiness surging through him and couldn't get it out of his mind. It was sort of a relief that he didn't have to keep his secret safe from everyone. And, if things led to where Sitch had implied in the first place, he knew that he might want to know the answers of a few very important questions. Slowly, he left the small alleyway and wandered towards the barracks, feeling grimy and disgusting. He needed a shower.

As soon as he began to undress, he groaned when he felt his groin tighten more. Great, just what he needed. At least no one else was around to notice or care, and at least Korra hadn't found out. He was already ashamed for waking up partially naked in her bed for the past two nights, but it soothed whenever he thought about her sweet smile. Then his mind flickered to the last time water had been falling and the images of her supple breasts filled his mind. Without thinking, Howl turned on the shower water and let the icy chill cool his blood. His member stood at full attention and he focused on trying to bathe, ignoring its pulsating need.

He grabbed the same brand of pumice soap he'd used when he lived in the Fire Nation, scrubbing with the scratchy edges and inhaling the scent of his home. One day he wanted to take Korra there and show her where he'd lived. He wanted to show her where his parents had taken him to play in the park, where the turtle ducks ate little pieces of wheat bread that Howl had eagerly thrown at him. Being an only child had had its perks, but it left him a social outcast.

Howl sighed and ran the bar of soap across his stomach. He remembered perfectly what she'd called him; gorgeous. He slowly washed across his scar and waited for the stinging pain to sink in. When it didn't he breathed in relief and moved on to other places. His mind flickered back to home, when his mother had spent her time showing him how to take care of himself; laundry, cooking, et cetera. The last memory he could see clearly of his father was when his father taught him how to shave the thin line of black hairs along his chin and under his nose. Speaking of which, Howl ran his hand over his cheeks and found the stubble returning. He grumbled, turning the water off and wrapping a towel loosely around his waist.

As soon as he did, the night shift returned from breakfast and turned on the water. His body no longer boiling with desire, Howl wandered away from them as they undressed and grabbed his cheap razor provided by the White Lotus leaders. The words of the men quickly grew louder as they discussed topics such as probending or, unfortunately, watching a woman squirm underneath them.

Korra walked into the mess hall and instantly grew heavy when she noticed that neither Howl nor Katara were present. She sighed, walking to grab a plate of fish dumplings and a cup of ginseng tea before returning to her normal spot. Her mind was on him, as usual, wondering what he was doing. Was he on duty? Was he sleeping again? She often wondered if she were keeping him up too late. He always fell asleep when she visited him in the barracks and the both of them were usually too tired to move if they were in her room. Okay, the first time hadn't been anything, but….

She sighed, using her chopsticks and plopping a dumpling in her mouth. Wincing, she forced herself to swallow. That was nothing like her mothers, giving her an awful twang of homesickness. She continued to move the dumplings around the plate, occasionally taking a bite of one, but feeling disgusted afterwards. She wished that her parents could have accompanied her to the compound and that her mother was the chef of the mess hall. Then she could convince Howl to eat the best sea prunes in the world.

Howl. A small smile crossed across her face as she envisioned him, respectful and sweet, not wanting to hurt her, always wanting to protect her. Though sometimes his protectiveness got annoying and she wished he would lighten up, she loved him. He was the first person other than Katara to treat her like she was more than just a beacon.

Something in her mind clicked and she frowned, thinking back to her birthday. How many months had it been? Two? Three? She eagerly thought back and gasped when she realized how close his birthday was. He was going to be eighteen. He was going to be another year older than her again. Her stomach twisted as multiple ideas rushed through her head of what she could get him. There was the possibility of getting him another romance novel, but he had about a thousand of those. Maybe she could make something? No, that would end terribly. She could get a matching tattoo of his White Lotus? But needles scared her, and she needed her arm to train.

Make love. Now that was an idea. Her mother had told her that she needed to wait until she was sure she loved him. Now she was more than positive, but she couldn't help but be frightened at her mind for coming up with this. Korra pushed her food away and sipped at her ginseng tea. She loved the sculpted muscles on his chest and arms and wondered if there was any chance that she could convince him. After his present to her, she wanted to give him something much better. Now that they could easily express their feelings….

Her belly tightened as she thought about truly experiencing the greatest amount of pleasure that she could experience and thought of how amazing it would be with her best friend. Her fingers lingered inches from her legs, shaking slightly. She really liked the idea of giving him that for his birthday, especially since they had technically been together for the past few months and….

Was it too soon? She gulped down the tea and started to her healing training, rubbing her head in annoyance. Spirits, he confused her. He made her head go fuzzy when they kissed and made her body do crazy things. Like desire him. Like ache for him. Korra pulled her parka tighter around her shoulders as a blast of chilly air hit her. Her gaze searched the sentry towers for him but saw older men standing guard. So where was he? He hadn't gone into town with Sitch again, had he? In frustration and confusion with her thoughts, she nearly ran to the training area.

Howl knew he didn't have duty until late that night and knew just how agonizing it would be if Korra started her training back up. As soon as his schedule was fixed, he would be back on the night shift. She would be sleeping again while he stared over the icy world to protect her. He was positive that he wouldn't be able to stay by her sides when she most wanted to.

He closed his eyes as the sunset and slept, nothing invading his dreams. For the first time in forever, he managed to keep stay asleep without Korra's presence. Maybe it was the fact that Sitch knew, maybe it was the thought that it was still day time… he didn't know. Instead of evil, he imagined her. He imagined blue eyes looking down at him as he brushed strands of her dark brown hair out of her eyes. He dreamed of gentle kisses trailing down his chest as he said sweet nothings into her ear. Her tongue lacing around his nipple, her nails trailing down to his-

Howl woke with a start…. Not of fear but of arousal. He pulled on his clothes in seconds, ignoring the burning feeling around his nipple. He threw open the door, surprised to find it late. He didn't see her, surprisingly enough, but he didn't mind. His blood was boiling, his chest struggling to maintain its breathing, and his body was as tightly coiled as a frightened tiger-snake. He spotted Sitch on the main guard tower and bit his lip, remembering what the older man had said. About his heart breaking. Howl ignored him and remembered the blood pact he'd made to Korra.

His steps picked up and he nearly ran to her room. Before turning into the corridor, he glanced around him left and right, making sure no one saw him, before knocking on the wooden door and praying she was there. He had to see her.

About ten seconds later, he went to knock again when the door opened and Korra pulled him forcefully into her room. In a matter of heartbeats, her hands were roaming all over his body, save his lower part. Their kisses were no longer sensual; they were full of longing and desire and pure want. He tried to hold her cheek when her hand darted out and pinned it to the wall, entangling her fingers with his. The noises they were making—a mixture of moans and gasps—were turning him on in a way he didn't understand yet. It was the same when he'd seen her luscious curves; a confused part of him was being awoken.

He didn't want to pull away but his fingers found her cheeks and he ended the kiss. Their shaky breathing was all he heard as he traced the outline of her plump, soft lips. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He stroked her jawbone with a calloused thumb, hearing her gasp in faint pleasure. Howl pressed his forehead to hers and sighed. "Sitch knows."