Page 8 of Claimed By the Panda
“Shut up. I’m making it look real.”
I drank in the way he arched beneath me, the small, helpless sounds he made when I bit gently at his collarbone, the hardness between his legs that matched my own. I’d never been with a guy before, never wanted to. So why was this so fucking natural?
Ours,my inner panda insisted again, louder this time.Keep what’s ours.
I rocked against him again, unable to stop myself. The friction was maddening—not enough and too much all at once. Cody’s legs fell open, making space for my hips between his thighs, and it was the hottest thing I’d ever felt, his cock hard against mine, with only the thin fabric of his briefs between us. I kissed him again, deeper this time, unable to stop.
His hands traveled down my back, fingers digging into muscle, pulling me closer. When they reached the curve of my ass, he hesitated for a heartbeat, then squeezed, hauling me against him. He arched up to grind his cock against my length, his body moving in a way that was pure primal need. He was stronger than he looked.
The way his body felt beneath mine overwhelmed my senses, making me forget why we were here, who was coming, why this was supposed to be fake. All I knew was I wanted more. Needed more. Needed to tear those boxer briefs off and feel all of him, skin to skin, nothing between us.
Mate,the panda whispered.
Footsteps on the porch jerked me back to reality. My mother would be through the door any second, and while I needed this to look convincing, I didn’t need her to catch me fucking Cody senseless.
As a knock rang out through the cabin, I yanked the blanket over us, covering us. “We’re coming, Ma?”
The door creaked open, and footsteps echoed through my small living room. “Where are your manners, Jian? You can’t just yell ‘Come in’ instead of coming to the door.”
“I said ‘We’re coming,’ not ‘Come in!’” I shouted as I adjusted us to be in the more romantic, cozy position I’d originally envisioned—me on my back, with him snuggling against my side.
As her footsteps approached, I gave him a soft, sweet, appropriate kiss, then dragged his leg over my hips to hide the way the blanket was tenting around my hard-on.
“Hold on, Ma, we’re—”
Before I could finish, my mother appeared in the doorway, her flowing scarves settling around her like colorful smoke.
“Crap!” She slapped a hand over her eyes, bracelets jangling. “I’m so sorry, Jian! I didn’t realize you had company.” She lowered her hand, her expression morphing from embarrassment to delight. “Oh! The Li family was right! You found your fated mate!”
“Umm...” For once, I was at a loss for words.
“Li Zixuan called last night. Darla told him everything.” She beamed at us. “Sorry to interrupt, I just rushed over to find out if we would have another guest at the breakfast table. I’m Marissa Wei, Jian’s mom.”
“Cody Finch.” Cody gave her a cute little wave.
“Cody. How lovely to meet you.” She moved forward like she was going to shake his hand.
“Ma! You’re being awkward.”
She laughed, waving me off. “Oh, sorry. I’m just so thrilled. I knew there was a reason you never connected with any of the girls we introduced you to! You were waiting for fate to intervene and introduce you to Cody.”
“Um. Yeah. I’m sure that’s it.”
“I can see the bond forming,” she said with a wistful sigh. “Anyway, I only stopped by to let you know that breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes. We have plenty, so Cody is welcome to join.” My mother backed toward the door, still grinning like she’d won the lottery.
This lie was the worst idea I’d ever had, and I’d had a lot of bad ideas in my short life. And I was starting to suspect the lie was confusing my panda, too. That would explain how irritating he was being.
I glanced down at Cody. No wonder my mom was convinced we had a mate bond; he looked thoroughly debauched; hair mussed from my hands, lips swollen, a pink mark blooming on his neck where I’d sucked too hard. As I met his eyes, he smiled shyly and snuggled closer. I cut my inner voice off before my panda could get too happy about the cute cuddling. Cody was not my mate. Iwas horny, and this mate talk had confused my panda. Nothing more.
Still, once we were alone again, I hauled Cody closer, burying my face in the crook of his neck. His skin smelled like sleep and arousal, a combination that made my cock twitch against his thigh. I breathed in more, trying to stop a soft moan of pleasure from slipping from my lips. He smelled like home.
I lifted my head to find Cody staring up at me, blue eyes wide, lips parted and kiss-swollen. Beautiful. Delicious.Mine.
His left eyebrow tilted up. “So. Why are you lying to your family?”
Irritated by the blunt question, I rolled off him, instantly missing his warmth and his scent, but fighting the urge to go back. “It’s complicated.”
“Okay, Mr. Complicated. Is it also a dangerous truth?” His voice had a teasing quality that told me he wasn’t buying any of it, and his cheeky smile made me want to kiss him. He propped himself up on one elbow. “We’ve got fifteen minutes. You could climb back on top of me. You know, to practice. Or establish the intimacy we need to look like a fake couple.”
