A/N: Hello to all my new followers! :)
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it was long-awaited and fun to write. Let me know what you think :)

"I'll do anything you say,

If you say it with your hands.

And I'd be smart to walk away,

But you're quicksand."

- Taylor Swift

I didn't think it would feel like this. I mean, the actual effort- the mashing of lips and teeth, the roaming of hands, the removal of clothing- I predicted that. But I didn't expect it to feel so taboo. And I didn't expect to enjoy the fact that it's taboo. Like a dirty, little secret. Just another part of the game. Except it's not. It's not a game anymore. It won't be. It can't be. This is against the rules.

Zuko's lips are on my neck, biting at the skin there. His hands are on my waist, untying the sash of my robes. I should really be doing something about this. I should be, I don't know, trying to stop it. But I am stuck in some lust and fire whiskey induced haze and all I can think is more, Zuko, more. He presses a trail of wet kisses along my collarbone and down my chest, leaving fire in the wake of his lips. I feel like I'm melting. Like I might actually catch fire.

I cannot fully process what the hell is going on, the alcohol has prevented that. Am I really going to do this? What would a fully sober me think? I guess I don't really care right now.

I close my eyes when I feel Zuko's fingers on my chest bindings, untying the knot and unraveling them. I need to focus on these sensations. My own fingers are fisted in Zuko's black hair at the nape of his neck. I'm probably holding on too tight, but I need something to keep me steady. I barely register the ocean breeze on my now exposed chest before Zuko's mouth is on me again. His lips and tongue find purchase on my right nipple and he cups my breasts in his hands. I let out a whimper of pleasure and my back arches, pushing my body further into his. His hips grind down into mine.

I reach for the waistband of Zuko's pants and he pulls back, studying me through eyes that burn with demand and desire. I want this. I want everything. I won't stop. I make quick work of Zuko's robes; undo the sash and push them back off his shoulders. I run my palms over his chest, amused by the contrast of his pale skin and my tan fingers. It's a friendly little reminder of how opposite and wrong we are.

Zuko leans back, sitting on his calves. I sit up and fully shrug out of my blue robes. Zuko's eyes rake over every visible inch of skin on my body and I reach for the string of his pants. He slips them down over his narrow hips, kicking them off in the sand behind us. He's left in a pair of really soft, red undershorts. I take the fabric between my thumb and forefinger, rubbing back and forth across the material where it covers Zuko's thigh. It's helping me calm down, this soft fabric. I wonder if Zuko knows that I've never done this before. I wonder if maybe he thinks that I have. And I have done this; kissed someone in intimate places and touched them, too. But I haven't done this; what I think I'm about to do. What I want to do. I feel Zuko shudder when my finger brushes the inside of his thigh.

When Zuko's hands are on my waist again, tugging my leggings and Sarashi wraps down over my hips, I wonder briefly about how many girls there were before me. Zuko is twenty years old; I'm not so naïve as to think that he's never done this before. But that's not something that matters to me. I just wonder about the girls. What they looked like, what they thought of Zuko. Are we all different, or does Zuko have a type? I think that could be interesting to know.

I feel goosebumps everywhere. Everything is still except for the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Zuko is staring at my naked body, just staring. I feel somewhat uncomfortable under his scrutiny, not knowing what he's thinking, but I kind of enjoy it as well.

"Like what you see?" I ask.

The sound of my voice seems to break Zuko out of his concentration and he looks up at me, his lips playing into a smirk. Instead of responding, he leans forward and presses a kiss just above my knee. Then another, this time against my stomach. He pushes forward, parting my thighs with his knee and settling between them.

Zuko hovers above me and I feel another kiss between my breasts. Zuko's fingers are on the inside of my thigh and I suck in a harsh breath. Zuko's eyes find mine and he presses two fingers against me. The sound that tears from my throat is not one that I've ever heard myself make before. But it seems to urge Zuko on and his thumb rubs against my clit, eliciting more sounds from me.

I wrap my arms around Zuko's neck and squeeze my eyes shut when his fingers press inside me. Zuko cusses. My entire body is starting to fill with heat, my legs tremble, and I can feel the sensations building inside my core, shoving me toward oblivion as Zuko's thumb moves in jerky circles over my most sensitive spot. My hips roll upward to meet his hand, moving of their own accord.

Zuko groans, "Katara…"

"Don't stop. Zuko, don't stop." I beg, gripping his shoulders with what is probably painful force.

Zuko growls and his fingers move faster, stroking something deep within me. My moan catches in my throat and the resulting sound is something like a squeak.

I start to protest when he pulls back, only to nearly choke on the words when I feel his lips on me. "Oh…" I murmur as I tangle my fingers in his hair, trying to press him closer. So. Good. Zuko's tongue circles my clit as his fingers continue working inside me. He sucks down, hard, and the coil inside me snaps into a million little pieces. My back arches off the ground and my lips part to let out a strangled cry of Zuko's name. The feeling of ecstasy bursts through my body, leaving me as nothing more than a whimpering mess. Shudders of pleasure rake through me as I writhe beneath him, trying to savor every second of this bliss.

I collapse back into the sand and Zuko presses soft kisses to the inside of my thigh, to my pelvis, my stomach, my chest, my jaw. When I finally can, I open my eyes to find Zuko staring at me again. He has this look on his face, one I've only seen twice before. Once when we were dancing in the Earth Kingdom and then again when I water whipped the shit out of him and won our spar last week. I don't really know what these incidents have in common and I'm too distracted to try and determine what it is.

Zuko watches me intently as I sit up and tug his undershorts to his knees, freeing his erection. He looks incredible this way. Naked, panting, and covered in moonlight. With him on his knees in front of me, I can take in every detail of his body. His broad shoulders, narrow waist, and strong thighs. Then, at closer glance; the thin line of hair that goes from his belly to his groin, the dip of his pelvis, and the muscles that are visible everywhere.

"Do you like what you see?" Zuko teases, mimicking my earlier question.

Yes. I do.

The sound that leaves Zuko's lips when I reach forward and grasp his hard length in my hand is very un-prince like in manner.

I wind my left arm around his neck and pull him back down over me. He lands with his hands on either side of my shoulders. "Fuck." He mutters as my grip on him tightens. My hand moves in long strokes over him and I pause briefly to lick my palm before continuing my ministrations. I watch as Zuko's eyes nearly roll back in his head. His balance above me falters, but he locks his elbows to stay in place.

His breath is hot against my face. And seeing the pleasure on his makes my gut swell and ache.

"Zuko…" I whisper. Maybe I'm not fully aware right now of what I'm asking for entitles, but I want it anyway. I want it so badly.

Zuko's eyes snap open. They are bright gold and dark with lust at the same time. I lift my hips toward him and wrap my legs behind his waist, pulling him against me. The tip of his penis rubs against my wet entrance and we both moan.

Spirits.

Zuko's eyes find mine again and he swallows softly. He pauses and brushes a finger against my cheek. And I know what he's asking. If this is okay, if we're really gonna do this, if he has my permission.

So I say, "Yes."

And then he's inside me, stretching me and filling me in one slow motion. It's a stinging pain at first, but it ebbs into a dull ache. The alcohol takes the edge off. And the fact that everything we'd done leading up to this has prepared me for it.

I whisper Zuko's name and he pulls out and slips forward again. His mouth finds mine; his kisses are hot and hungry. His tongue slides against mine and a shudder of pleasure runs down my spine. Zuko groans as he starts to move against me, rolling his hips. He mumbles something into my cheek that sounds like "you feel so good", but I can't be sure. I'm too focused on what's happening to my body and the sensations washing over me.

I feel Zuko throb within me and I'm hit with a renewed sense of desire. "Faster." I tell him. Zuko complies and snaps his hips forward, moving in and out of me faster and harder. Pressure builds in my lower stomach, the coil starts to tighten. I move with him, meeting each of his thrusts with my own hips, creating a rhythm. I've never felt this good before.

Zuko grabs my left thigh roughly and untangles my leg from behind his waist. Without him inside me, I feel empty and sore. For a split second, I wonder if I've done something wrong, until Zuko hooks the underside of my left knee over the crook of his elbow and enters me with more force than before.

"Spirits, Zuko!" I cry, adjusting my hips slightly to accommodate him.

"Fuck, you're tight." He growls in response, his voice so low that I almost miss what he's said.

This new position has Zuko deeper inside me, his hips angled somewhat upward so that he's hitting the rough patch of skin inside me, the sweet spot. I gasp, my toes curl in the sand, and I grab onto Zuko's upper arms, just trying to find purchase on something.

Zuko is panting now, murmuring my name in my ear as he thrusts into me with wild abandon. I peel my eyes open in time to watch him come undone. He pulls out of me when he comes, which I guess is unnecessary seeing as how I can bend body fluids. But he doesn't know that. He groans loudly. His chest is rising and falling rapidly, matching the sound of his ragged breath. His hair is disheveled. And he looks amazing.

He lies in the sand beside me and pulls me into his arms, tucking me close to him.

Zuko was wrong when he asked me if I was scared. I'm not. I'm terrified. I don't want to feel this way, I don't want to feel this close to Zuko when I know that we can never really be together. Doing this isn't going to change anything. In fact, it probably only makes matters worse. It just means that it's going to hurt more when Zuko and I go our separate ways, in our separate nations, to our separate lives. That's the way it has to be.

Maybe I never should have agreed to play this game.

Sorry to end on a sad note. There's angst in store for our favorite couple. But all will be well in the end. ;) :)