Reasonable Exchange

"You!"

It slipped out of Katara's mouth before she knew what she was saying, unwittingly costing herself the half-second of uncertain nostalgia on the part of the tall, dark-haired Fire Nation woman who'd entered her tent. For a moment Mai simply stared at her, almost surprised, before the slightest of smiles crept to her face.

"Huh. Azula's been driving herself up a wall trying to find your little circle of friends, and I just happen to run into one of you here... of all places."

Gritting her teeth, Katara reached towards a nearby pitcher of water, but before she could begin her waterbending Mai wrapped a vicelike hand around her wrist while the other placed one of her many knives at the base of her jugular.

Katara blinked. She'd figured the quietest of the Dangerous Ladies to be a rather formidable fighter, but she hadn't realized just how fast she was.

"Now, there's no need to start fighting. I've got too many fond memories of this place to see it go out of business over something little like this. And frankly--" she added, taking a step back and sliding the blade back into her long crimson sleeve, "...I'd prefer to exhaust myself in a more pleasurable way tonight." The Waterbender said nothing as she relaxed her guard a bit (though she kept glaring daggers at Mai), unconsciously gathering up her long silk robe to cover up what little of her modesty she could gather.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Katara spat after a few seconds. "If you're looking for the men's tents--"

"I haven't made a mistake," Mai responded calmly, trusting that Katara was smart enough to put two-and-two together. "...What I'm interested in is, why are YOU here?

"...Money, I'm guessing?" Mai pondered aloud, and the slight twinge in Katara's eye was more than answer enough. "Hmph. Figured as much."

"Look, if you're going to hand me over to you precious Princess," Katara finally demanded, her patience and shame at their threshold, "...Just go ahead and--"

The sentence died in her throat as a bag of coins suddenly landed at her knees, followed by another Mai pulled out from her robe. For a moment all Katara could do was stare, bewildered by the taciturn girl's sudden act of presumed charity.

"B-but--"

"You're trying to get to the Capital, right? If you and your little group make it there, with the supposedly 'dead' Avatar at the head? It'll definitely make things interesting again. And I have no loyalty to Azula-- I'm just desperate for something to do."

"T-Thank you so much!" Katara smiled, hardly able to believe her good luck. "I nearly had to--"

"Not...so... fast," was all Mai said, a rare devious grin creeping onto her slender lips. "...Whoever said this was charity?" It took a second for Katara's elation to fade, quickly replaced by bewilderment.

"...Wait... y-you can't mean--"

The young noble only sauntered over to Katara, leaning down just enough to clutch her chin and tilt it closer to her. There was something in her gaze-- predatory, commanding, confident-- that, she was embarrassed to admit, would have made her knees wobble if she'd been standing up.

"Why not? Getting something in exchange for this little 'investment' seems reasonable... unless, of course, you'd rather I change my mind about taking you to Azula?"

Growling quietly to herself, Katara hastily considered the situation-- as bad as she'd figured raising money like this could've been, getting blackmailed by one of Azula's comrades hadn't quite factored into her contingency plan.

She didn't like it, but in the end her strategy still applied-- just numb herself and let it happen, and it would be over before she knew it. Easy.

"...All right," Katara finally muttered, reluctantly meeting Mai's golden eyes with her own ice blue. Satisfied, Mai took a step forward imperiously. "Um... so do you have a name, or--"

"'Mistress,'" Mai answered coolly, and the way her eyes smoldered sent a strangely pleasant shiver down Katara's back. "...That's all you need to know me by. Now strip."

Startled at Mai's casually-given demand, it took Katara a moment to find the sash holding her robe together, her fingers toying with the knot with an all-too-clear lack of urgency. At first Mai said nothing, but after nearly a minute of seemingly clumsy hands failing to loosen her attire, Mai sighed.

"Hurry up."

"I...I'm trying to," Katara fibbed, not daring to meet Mai's gaze. "Heh... these darn knots always--"

There was a blur of movement, Mai's pointed nails digging insistently into the nape of her neck, her own startled gasp, and suddenly Mai was only inches from her, the sash undone and hanging uselessly in the Fire Nation noble's other hand.

"There," she breathed victoriously, "Not so hard after all." her eyes dark and her smile authoritative, not so much demanding submission as strongly suggesting it, and despite the fact that everything in Katara's brain was telling her to fight... something about those nails in her skin and the warm breath ghosting across her face and all the raw promise in those golden eyes seemed to convince her to do otherwise.

What was she thinking?! She couldn't be... no. That was impossible. Suddenly ashamed and painfully aware that she was a few simple gestures away from being completely unclothed, Katara glanced away. Her mind was racing as Mai slowly closed the distance between them, surprisingly gentle as she moved her lips closer and closer.

"W-wait, a-about this deal," Katara stumbled, trying to buy herself time, maybe get out of this mess. "I...I really don't think I ca--"

Before she could finish, Mai pressed her lips strongly against hers, her hand pinning Katara's to the wall as she pressed herself closer to the young Waterbender. Katara shuddered, but not from discomfort as she'd anticipated... somehow, between Mai's proximity and whatever bizarre perfume she was wearing and those slender lips smashing against hers, now wrapping around her bottom lip and suckling gently... this was beginning to feel good.

Really, really good.

Her arms went limp as Mai slid her tongue into Katara's now-compliant mouth, teasing the Water Tribe girl's own as her hands slid up the firm expanse of bare stomach, lingering where powerful muscles tensed just beneath the surface, Katara struggling to hold back a groan that instead came out as a passionate little yelp muffled by Mai's lips. Without another word and her hands resting just beneath the curve of Katara's breasts, the Fire Nation noble broke the kiss, and Katara nearly felt ashamed at how disappointed she was.

"Well... you seem to be enjoying yourself after all," Mai teased, a satisfied smirk on her face as Katara's disoriented, lustful expression shifted instantly to half-hearted indignance.

"I-I'm not," Katara muttered as she glanced sheepishly aside, suddenly reserved. Her head was still spinning from that kiss, her stomach doing backflips as she realized that Mai was still barely a hair's breadth from her... but awareness seemed harder to maintain as Mai's lips suddenly pressed against her throat, teeth lightly digging into her skin as long nails teased the few straps holding up her robe off, leaving her completely exposed. She shivered as Mai moved away just enough to take her in completely, and Katara bit her lip nervously as Mai fixed her with that steady, unswerving gaze.

"...Gorgeous," the noble purred hungrily, and Katara was beginning to feel so delightfully off-kilter that she didn't protest in the slightest as Mai gently pushed her onto her back, a hand protecting the back of her head as she gently laid Katara down.

What was wrong with her? She knew Mai was the enemy, that she shouldn't be letting just ANYONE do this with her... but... but even knowing that... gods, Mai was making her feel so good, so much better than anyone ever had before, and honestly any consideration she'd had before of calling this off had long passed her by. She squirmed as Mai wrapped her lips around an already hard nipple, nipping the areole with her teeth while her thumb roughly flicked against the other. If that wasn't enough, she felt Mai's free hand slide along the curve of her hip and down to her knee, deftly taking her underwear as she moved.

It occured to Katara that Mai must have had plenty of 'practice' long before her, and she briefly wondered if there was a more specific reason she was close to Azula and the Circus Freak, but then Mai's lips traced a line of love bites along her clavicle and it somehow became difficult to breathe, much less follow that (rather intriguing) line of thought.

Suddenly she felt Mai's weight lift away from her, and for half a second, she felt almost abandoned, but upon opening her eyes she saw the older girl shifting down her body, arms wrapping under her thighs to secure her while fingers teased along the patch of dark hair at the apex of Katara's legs (the Waterbender sighed at the feeling, her hips jerking just slightly), and then Mai-- now smirking with a dominant look in her eye-- simply lowered her head closer and closer to...

"W...Y-You're not going to... do that, are y--HAHH!"

And to Katara's utter shock, Mai did just that, her tongue dipping between her folds without warning, her hands spreading the waterbender's labia wider to allow deeper access. Mai licked and sucked, twirling her tongue and thoroughly exploring Katara and keeping pace with the erratic jerking of her hips while her hands kept Katara's legs from bucking too hard and potentially hitting her as she savored the girl.

For her part, Katara could only gasp, open-mouthed, her legs curling around Mai's head as she clawed the ground, her body automatically thrusting against that incredible tongue as it did things to her that she'd never even considered before. It just wasn't possible that this girl was making her feel so wet with just her tongue, it just wasn't... and yet she let out an unrestrained howl of pleasure as Mai's lips began teasing her rock-hard clit, tongue still probing as deep inside her as it could. Katara felt her eyes roll back and her breathing shorten as Mai sped up, her own orgasm building with every second. Oh, this was going to be incredible--

...But then Mai stopped and sat up on her knees, that cocksure grin on her face once more and for a moment all Katara could do was stutter impotently, at once confused and hornier than she'd ever been and desperate for Mai to finish her.

"N-now hold on a minute," Katara panted, her eyes a bit unfocused and her stance rather uncertain. "Don't tell me... th-that all this was just a big te--"

"Strip me."

Katara blanked for a moment, uncertain if she'd really heard the other girl say THAT, and could only respond suspiciously.

"Wh...what?"

"Well, it doesn't seem fair... that you get all the fun, does it? Go on, 'peasant,'" Mai cooed with a tease in her voice, "...be a big girl and take my clothes off for me, won't you?"

Whatever hesitation Katara may have had vanished at the clear challenge in Mai's voice, and despite the blush coloring her features the waterbender scooted over to Mai, fiddling with the sash holding her robes together before letting it fall to the floor, the cloth exposing the wrap holding her breasts up and the snow-white expanse of her stomach. Katara could feel her breath catch as she slid her hand along Mai's abdomen, the muscles there taut and powerful, the sensation like a jolt that rode up her fingertips and straight between her legs. Katara wanted to lick every inch of Mai she could, wanted to feel those muscles twitch and contract as she made her come, but Mai only urged her on.

"Hurry up..." Mai whispered (her command less demanding and just a bit more impatient than she would have liked), and Katara promptly slid the elegant silk cloth off, gasping quietly at the sight of the slender curves of the girl who was at once her enemy and her lover tonight.

She moved to untie the wrap on Mai's breasts, but the noble put her hands down. "Turn around," she muttered, and Katara did so quickly, more impatient than she would have liked to admit about seeing Mai naked.

Then she felt Mai's sash wrap around her wrists, securing them tight behind her back before she could react, and then Mai's lips were against her ear, brushing teasingly against the lobe.

"...Finish the rest without your hands."

"B-but how am I--"

"Use your imagination," Mai teased, digging her nails into Katara's breast and making the darker girl sigh, deliciously arching into her. "...I'm sure you can think of something."

Twisting awkwardly in her bonds, Katara turned around to face Mai, though her face was considerably closer to her chest than she'd intended. She was still only a moment before an epiphany hit her, and smiling wickedly she ran her face against Mai's side, and finding a looser strip of cloth, dug into it with her teeth, brushing Mai's skin with her lips and a quiet moan letting her know that she was on the right track.

She tugged on the cloth gently, it coming unraveled as she loosened the wrap bit by bit, finally slipping away after what felt like hours of slow (but quite pleasant) work, the markings of her teeth on that porcelain skin evidence of where Katara had 'trouble' the most.

Katara paused for half-a-moment to take in the sight of Mai's breasts-- full and round and absolutely perfect-- before taking a dusky nipple into her mouth and practically devouring it. This time it was Mai's turn to be speechless; while her passionate vocalizations were huskier and more intelligible than Katara's, they didn't make the now-eager waterbender any less aroused, now moving over to the untended nub to flick it gently against her teeth.

"J-Jeez," Mai groaned, her chest beginning to flush under her lover's ministrations, "...I th-thought yAAHHHHohhh hah-hadn't been with a g-girl before..."

"Mmm... I haven't," Katara purred, disbelieving at how utterly turned-on the sight of Mai on the threshold of orgasm-- from her attentions, no less-- was getting her. Licking between the valley of the Fire Nation girl's breasts, Katara slowly kissed her way down her stomach, instinctively dipping her tongue into the divot of her navel and earning an honest-to-goodness moan out of Mai.

Katara decided she wanted to hear more.

"...Not bad f-for a beginner."

"I'm a fast learner," the waterbender said as she gave Mai the most smoldering smirk she could, given the desperate, hungry twitching of her own vagina and the juices running in streams down her caramel leg. Caught up in the moment and completely forgetting that this was technically a degrading task given to her by a hated enemy and she was supposed to be ashamed and not loving every second of this, Katara bit into Mai's pubic bone while wrapping her tongue around the hem of her only remaining undergarment, her rear swaying temptingly as she pulled the cloth down Mai's full hips with her mouth, pausing only occasionally to lavish those pale, shapely legs with wet kisses.

Katara had occasionally felt a twinge of attraction to other women, but if she'd been told before tonight that she'd be bound and at the mercy of a Fire Nation beauty while licking up her thigh and nearly going crazy at the scent of her, she would have been forgiven for ignoring the revelation with a roll of her eyes and forgetting it entirely.

Mai, though... Spirits, Mai was something else completely, so confident and gorgeous and oh that voice and smirk and the scents mingling across that body... even had she never felt his way before she doubted she wouldn't have ultimately surrendered to her, money or not. Doing her best to ignore the long nails sinking gloriously into the curve of her ass, Katara took her time sliding back up to Mai's face, humming nonsense as she placed her lips at the pulse point on that pale neck and sucked as hard as she could, Mai's gasp making her body itch with anticipation.

Quite rattled herself, Mai reached around her temporary lover's back and undid the sash binding her arms with a single swift tug, then pushed Katara flat on her back before crawling around, giving her a devilish, lustful smile that she was more than a little thrilled to see mirrored back at her from the Water Tribe girl. She was more than ready, had been for what felt like ages, and by the glazed look in Katara's eyes as she shifted her position and placed her slit over the girl's face while staring down a gorgeous pussy herself, she was just as eager.

Still, she couldn't help enjoying the moment.

"...You want this?"

"Oh yes... yes I do," Katara slurred with a lazy smile as she placed her hands on Mai's rear, fingertips tracing over the firm, tight surface as if hoping to memorize the feel of it. A bit of her juices slipped into Katara's open mouth and she lapped it up, groaning aloud as the taste slid down her throat.

"Are you absolutely certain?" the Fire Nation girl teased. "If you're having second thoughts about th--"

"Just hurry up and fuck me," Katara breathed with a smile, and without another word she locked her hands around Mai's hips and began eating her out like a starving woman, her shameless moans vibrating powerfully through Mai even as she struggled to gain her sanity enough to pleasure her mocha beauty. Doing her best to ignore how wonderful Katara's teeth felt nibbling every square inch of her they could find and the tongue bumping her clit, Mai pulled Katara's knees apart before driving her own tongue in, chuckling to herself as she felt the girl's entire body tense up at the intrusion, undulating as she licked deeper and deeper.

Katara could barely breathe as she fucked Mai with her tongue, adding a finger teasingly against the pucker of her flawless ass, the fluids gushing all over her even as she licked them up only pushing her further beyond the point of no return. Mai's body smelled fantastic, the muscular legs wrapped around her head a firm reminder of just how powerful and gorgeous her lover was--

It was all she could do, without any warning, to not scream her lungs out as she came, the only coherent words she could form simple pleas for more, more, more.

---

It felt like days had passed when Mai, now fully dressed, brought Katara out of her exhausted slumber, and all she could think was how utterly sated and bewildered and impossibly heavy her body felt at this moment.

It was incredible.

"I should be going."

"...Oh." Despite the deal being finished, and even though she now had more than enough money to get the group all the way to the Fire Nation and back several times, Katara felt... well, certainly more disappointed than she should. "Well, I suppose that's... that's what we agreed on. I mean, it wouldn't look very good for you to be seen with me after a--"

"...Unless you're looking to make a bit more?"

At that Katara froze, her mouth gaping just a bit as she met the pale beauty's gaze, a slight mischevious twinkle making the implication of her comment clear. "If you need more money for your trip... I'd be happy to front more... on the condition that you stay here the entire week, on reserve for my... personal enjoyment."

The pause in her sentence made Katara shiver, forget completely about the fact that they were short on time.

"Well... I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem," Katara purred, inching closer to Mai, her cheeks coloring with her renewed lust. "...Of course, you might want to keep things from getting... too monotonous."

"Trust me. That won't be a problem," was all Mai snipped back with, a predatory glint in her smile as she sauntered out of the tent, leaving Katara tired and elated.

After all, she couldn't pass up an opportunity like that.