Page 5 of Claimed By the Panda
My tongue felt like I’d licked the carpet of every bar in Reno.
What had happened last night? The last thing I remembered clearly was standing on the Strip in my panda costume, talking to—oh shit. That hot Chinese guy. What was his name again?
Something tapped my face.
I swatted at whatever it was, groaning when the movement made my headache worse. My hand connected with something soft that made an indignant sound. The tapping stoppedmomentarily, then returned with more determination, tiny prickles now accompanying each tap.
“Fuck off,” I mumbled into the pillow that wasn’t mine.
The tapping became a full-on pat, claws now involved. I forced both eyes open to confront my tormentor.
A white fluffball of a cat sat inches from my face. Its blue eyes narrowed as it lifted one paw, ready to smack me again.
“Jesus, fine, I’m awake.” I turned to the cat as fragments of last night reassembled in my pounding head. My friends partying at the casino. The panda costumes we’d all worn because I’d insisted it would be hilarious. And then that guy—tall, serious, ridiculously hot in that brooding way that made my stomach flip. Johnny?
No, Jian. That was his name.
Had we...? I quickly patted my stomach and legs. No, I was still dressed in half of my panda costume. At least I hadn’t gotten naked with a stranger.
I squeezed my muscles, double-checking that there wasn’t any pain there, but I had no idea how it was supposed to feel after getting fucked. 24-year-old virgin problems. Though losing my virginity and not even remembering it would be sadly on-brand for my disaster of a love life.
The cat stalked across my chest and sat down, staring at me, tail swishing.
More memories surfaced through the hangover fog. Something about pretending to be Jian’s boyfriend? And pandas. Something about pandas.
Had I gone home with a complete stranger because he’d promised to show me a panda? Was this how I died? The bed shifted beside me. My heart stopped.
I needed to face this situation head-on. Maybe Jian was still asleep and I could sneak out without an awkward morning-after conversation. Or maybe he was awake and could explain what the hell was going on.
Taking a deep breath, I rolled over and came face to face with a giant panda.
For a minute, I froze, trying to make sense of what I was looking at. But there was no question. There was an actual fucking panda bear. And it was snoring, its black-and-white face peaceful in sleep, massive chest rising and falling with each breath.
Could it be a hallucination or some weird hangover vision? I rubbed my eyes, but when I opened again, the panda was still there.
The panda lifted a huge paw, complete with long, lethal-looking claws, and my fear finally registered. I screamed, scrambling backward so fast I slammed into the headboard. The pandarolled over onto its back, still snoring, one massive paw flopping onto the pillow where my head had been seconds ago.
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit,” I pressed against the corner where the headboard butted up against the wall. Why was his bed against a wall? “Did he feed me to his panda? And why would he even have a panda? Surely that’s not legal.”
The white cat, completely unperturbed by the wild animal in the bed, walked calmly across the mattress. It reached the panda’s face, lifted a paw, and smacked the bear right between the eyes.
The panda snorted and rolled again.
The air around the panda... shimmered? Blurred? Like heat rising off asphalt, but faster, more intense. And then, instead of a panda, there was a man. A very naked, very beautiful man with long black hair splayed across the pillow and muscles that looked carved from stone.
Jian.
He blinked sleepily, looking confused until his eyes focused on my face.
“What the—” I stuttered, my back still pressed against the headboard. “You were—but now—WHAT THE FUCK?”
Jian shot upright, suddenly wide awake, revealing washboard abs, powerful thighs, and—holy shit—an impressive cock thathung thick between his legs even in its soft state. I tried desperately not to stare at it, but, I mean, come on.
“What did you see?” His voice was low, careful, his body tense like a predator ready to pounce.
“I saw a fucking panda!” I pointed to the space he now occupied. “Right there! And then the cat hit it, and it turned into you! Why were you a panda? How were you a panda? Am I still drunk? Oh no, am I hallucinating?”
Jian groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Fuck. Fuck!”
