Chapter Text
Spider tells Jake and Neytiri that he is in love with Kiri on her eighteenth birthday. Neither of them looks surprised as they sit across from him and their daughter to receive the news. He wonders how long they have known—if they possibly saw it coming before he and Kiri did.
Beneath the dining table, he feels Kiri lace her hand with his and squeeze reassuringly. “I love him, too,” she says to her parents, then turns her beautiful smile on him. “More than anything.”
Spider squeezes her hand back, a smile of his own breaking across his face.
Kiri’s statement seems to affect Jake, who grows surprisingly misty-eyed, but Neytiri takes a moment to contemplate everything they’ve told her.
“You have always been good to our daughter, Spider,” she finally says to him. “Continue to do so and you have our blessing.”
Spider nods firmly. “I will. Always.”
Kiri can’t stop herself from throwing her arms around him. He hugs her back, meeting Jake’s gaze over her shoulder. They nod to each other and then Jake laughs, sounding relieved.
“Looks like Lo’ak owes me a tenner,” he says.
Kiri pulls back and gapes at her dad. “What!”
…
When they decide they are ready, Spider and Kiri wait for the perfect opportunity so they can be alone. It ends up happening on a rainy morning in late March, a week after her nineteenth birthday when Jake and Neytiri are working, Neteyam and Lo’ak are holidaying with Ao’nung and Tsireya, and Tuk is at school.
Aside from the pattering of the rain on the roof, the Sully house is silent when Kiri opens the patio door for him and they head upstairs to her bedroom, hand in hand. She doesn’t look nervous, and he finds he isn’t either. There is a shared feeling between them that this was always meant to happen, whether they knew it or not. Their bond has always seemed designed by fate, and this would just be a physical expression of it.
Spider closes her bedroom door behind him and Kiri immediately reaches up to kiss him. The thrill of her lips on his still makes him weak in the knees so he carefully guides her backward to her bed and gently lays her down on the duvet. He climbs on top of her, his knees straddling her hips, then leans down to resume their kiss. But before he can, his long hair tumbles over his shoulders and hits her in the face. She giggles.
“Sorry,” he grins, trying to pull it back. It slips straight over again and hangs between them.
He sits back on his knees, annoyed he hadn’t thought to braid his hair back for this, but Kiri quickly comes to the rescue. She reaches for a scrunchie on her bedside table and offers it to him.
“Thanks,” he smiles, and she watches him pull it back and secure it into a knot. Then he leans back down and captures her lips with his. She curls her arms around his neck, pulling him down until he is perfectly aligned with her. She hums in pleasure at the full weight of him on top of her, and the sound goes straight to his core. He begins to trace his hands down her sides, thumbs brushing against the curves of her breasts. She rocks up against him in response, her hips bumping his, sending a wave of heat through his groin.
“More,” she whispers against his lips, and Spider complies, his hands shifting over the thin material of her top to fully cup her breasts. She quickly decides that she wants him touching her without the barrier of her clothing, and she unravels her arms from around his shoulders, reaching between them to drag off her top. He pushes himself up to make room for her.
Spider has seen Kiri bare-chested before. That happened for the first time during a make-out session several months ago. But the sight of her naked breasts still has him blushing and falling in love with her body all over again. She is so beautiful it almost hurts to look at her like he’s trying to stare at the sun.
Unaware of the effect she is having on him, Kiri throws her top aside then pulls him down again, so his already shirtless chest is pressed against hers. They fall back into kissing, long and deep, taking their time, content in the knowledge that they have hours ahead of them to explore. Her arms are wrapped around his shoulders again, her hands tracing the curve of his spine, her fingers drawing patterns on his skin and causing him to shiver. He cradles her face with his hands, unable to reach between their sealed bodies to touch her breasts as she’d originally wanted. But she doesn’t seem to mind—there is enough friction between their chests to make up for it.
As they continue to kiss, murmuring sweet nothings whenever they break apart for air, she periodically rocks her hips up against him, seeking friction. Like the rise and fall of ocean waves, he mirrors the movement with his own hips, pressing her down into her mattress. Heat grows within him, and he hears her breathing turn shaky as her own pleasure builds.
This is as far as they’ve ever gotten, and Spider wonders what his next move should be. He wants to please her first, which is the only thing he’s certain of. He tries taking his hand and trailing it down the curves of her body to rest on her left hip in a silent question. When their lips part for air, she gazes up into his eyes in anticipation, and he sees for the first time a hint of nerves in their hazel depths.
“Can I touch you?” he whispers.
She nods. “Yes. Please.”
He smiles, suddenly feeling nervous himself, and he shifts some of his weight onto his knees so there is space between their hips. He draws his hand into that space, hearing Kiri’s breathing turn trembling, feeling her stomach contracting beneath his palm. She is wearing shorts, so he flicks open the button to give himself room, then slowly slips his fingers inside.
Kiri gasps, her eyelids fluttering shut, as he touches her over her underwear. She is warm through the cotton material, which Spider quickly finds is damp. His breath shudders at the realisation that he is having this effect on her. As he holds his hand there, barely moving it, he watches her face for any sign of displeasure, but she has her bottom lip between her teeth and her nose scrunched up in what looks like concentration. She tilts her hips slightly downwards, which suddenly gives him much more room, and his hand slides in further, causing her to moan.
Her eyes open and seek his, and he sees they are glazed with bliss. “Touch me,” she pleads. “Properly.”
Spider nods rapidly, desperate to keep pleasing her, and he carefully withdraws his hand before slipping it under the cotton material. This time she whines—a high, sweet sound—and her fingers dig hard into his shoulders, her head falling back to expose her neck.
He quickly kisses her there, then focuses on trailing his fingers through her coarse hair before they slide down between her legs where she is hot and slippery. He strokes her gently, marvelling at her softness, and tries to ignore his arousal as she starts panting lightly at his touch.
“There’s a spot just above—can you touch me there,” she says breathily.
And Spider recalls with a start: Of course that’s the spot he should be touching! He had completely forgotten about it, and he hurries to make it right, drawing his hand up in search of it. He knows he’s found it when Kiri gasps and presses up against his fingertips.
“Circle it,” she bites out, sounding almost feverish. Her eyes are shut again, and Spider watches her face in awe as he starts to move his fingers, making sure he doesn’t press too hard. Her breathing comes faster and she tries to shift her legs further apart, but it’s clear that her shorts are preventing her from doing so.
“Hang on,” she says, opening her eyes. She sounds faintly miffed, and Spider instantly draws his hand out, worried he upset her, but she only reaches down to tug off her shorts and panties with haste. He shifts so she can kick them off, but he doesn’t get a chance to look at her—or even think about removing his own pants—before she grabs his hand and sticks it back there, her eyes closing and a content smile pulling at her lips when he starts to move his fingers again.
He is nearly overcome by the way she sighs and shifts beneath him, unconsciously rolling her hips in time with his strokes. He watches her face, memorising the way she looks at this moment—her pink-flushed cheeks, her lip caught between her teeth, her eyes occasionally flickering open to meet his before rolling shut again.
Several minutes pass like this before she hooks a leg behind Spider’s thigh, pressing herself up into his hand, tensing up all over. He thinks she must be near her climax, so he strokes her a little faster, adding slightly more pressure. He knows she’s reached it when she stiffens and a violent shiver racks her. She moans, her nails digging hard into his shoulders. As she throbs beneath his hand and trembles against the rest of him, Spider watches her lips form his name, soft and breathy, and it sounds like a wish or a prayer.
It has heat flooding through him, spearing toward his groin, and he nearly reaches his own high just watching her come undone beneath him. But he forces it back. This moment is about her.
Spider watches Kiri breathe through the lingering remnants of pleasure until her eyelids flutter open and he sees tears in her eyes. This has an arrow of fear plunging through his heart until she smiles at him, drawing his face down to kiss him. He sighs against her, finally removing his hand from between her legs. He’s not sure what to do with it, as it’s quite sticky, but she just takes it in her own and interlocks their fingers.
Their kiss is long and passionate, and he feels her pour all of her love and gratitude into it. When they break apart, they are gasping for air.
“That was okay?” Spider asks her when he finally catches his breath.
Kiri smiles, nodding up at him. “It was wonderful. It’s never felt like that before. That…intense.”
Spider feels a rush of satisfaction. “Good, I’m glad.”
She gazes happily at him until she appears to think of something and makes to sit up. He moves off her, thinking she might want to stand, and is taken by surprise when she rolls him onto his back instead, propped up by her pillows, and sits on her knees beside him.
At the last second, Spider remembers that Kiri is completely naked, and he keeps his gaze fixed firmly on her face. She giggles, reaching for his chin and tilting his head downward.
“You can look at me,” she tells him softly.
And he does, because he desires to know every inch of her, and all he’d needed was her permission. He wanders his gaze over her: along her thighs, between her legs where he touched her, up her stomach to her breasts and graceful shoulders. Her pretty face stares back at him shyly.
Realising they are nowhere near the same playing field, Spider quickly reaches down and shuffles out of his own pants and undershorts, tossing them aside.
“Now we’re even,” he tells her.
Kiri smiles appreciatively, then takes her turn to examine all of him. He watches her closely, noting her eyes widen when she reaches the juncture of his legs. He hears her breath catch as she stares at him and hopes she isn’t scared. He reaches for her hands, guiding her over to lean against his chest. She looks back up at his face and meets his gaze, and he can see that she isn’t frightened. Just a little bit nervous.
“You’re perfect, Kiri,” he whispers to her.
“So are you,” she whispers back.
Then they kiss again, and he feels her smile against his lips. She shifts closer, pressing herself against his side, then starts to drag a hand down over his chest, then his abs, heading toward his navel. The simmering fire at his core roars to life.
He breaks their kiss. “Kiri—you don’t have to—”
She shuts him up with her lips—a quick, fierce kiss—before pulling back and meeting his gaze resolutely. “I do, and I want to,” she says. “I want you to feel what it’s like.”
She waits because she won’t continue without his consent, but who is he to deny her, especially when he also wants to know how it feels to come undone at the hand of your soulmate.
Spider nods. “Okay. Go for it.”
Kiri smiles, trailing her hand down further, causing his breath to shudder. But she halts at the last second. “What should I do?” she asks him.
He wants to tell her that she won’t have to do much at all, but when he meets her gaze he can see that she intends to do it properly.
“Wrap your hand around me,” he tells her. “Then stroke it up and down.”
She nods, her task established, and finally reaches down to touch him. And at the first graze of her fingers, Spider loses himself completely, gasping sharply before sucking in a breath. She carefully takes him in her hand, and he hardens fully beneath her touch. She leans in to kiss his neck, nuzzling softly against him, and then she starts to move her hand, rubbing him slowly up and down, gently tracing the outline of him.
His eyes close, his breathing turns erratic, and he cannot stop a groan when she lightly squeezes. She hums pleasantly against his neck, pleased she can conjure such a noise from him, then begins to increase her pace. At first, her movements are a bit awkward, but she soon finds a gentle rhythm that has him seeing stars.
“Is this right?” she asks him softly, close to his ear.
Spider nods shakily, certain he cannot form proper words in his current state, and she continues. It doesn’t take long—a few minutes at most—before he can’t hold it back anymore and he reaches his climax. It shatters through him, better than any of the times before.
“Kiri,” he breathes out, unable to stop himself. Her name is always on his lips when he does this himself, and he wants her to know it.
“Spider,” she whispers back, stroking him through it. “Spider, Spider, Spider.”
This triggers something inside of him: a deep, desperate urge to be as connected to her as possible. He thinks it’s probably a good idea to take a break before they continue with sex, so he reaches for her face instead, tilts it toward him, and crashes his lips into hers. She kisses him back, hard enough to steal his breath.
When they separate, their smiling faces an inch apart, she gazes into his eyes, seeing through him to his very soul.
“I love you, Spider,” she murmurs, her voice filled with devotion.
Spider cradles her face, bringing their foreheads together, and whispers it back to her.
“I love you, too, Kiri.”