4. Chapter 4
Cody
I sat at the Wei family dining table in Jian’s baggy sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, trying not to stare too obviously at his dad, Guo’s, panda-shaped tea infuser. It was freaking adorable, though.
I wanted one for myself.
And every time I glanced at it, I remembered the impossible sight from this morning—Jian transforming from a panda into the sullen, gorgeous man who now sat beside me. His hand stroked my thigh in a rather firm, claiming way that I wasn’t sure he was aware of.
But I didn’t want it to stop. I liked the way he touched me, like I was important, cherished, and not just an irritating responsibility.
His mother beamed at us from across a spread of empty plates, clearly delighted by her son’s “boyfriend.” If only she knew we’d met less than twelve hours ago.
“More tea, Cody?” Marissa pushed a delicate ceramic pot toward me.
“Thank you.” I tried not to lean into how welcome and at home Jian’s family made me feel, reminding myself that this was a fake date. “Everything was amazing.”
“You’re such a polite young man.” She reached across to pat my hand. “So different from the dates Jian usually brings home.”
Jian tensed beside me. “I don’t bring anyone home.”
“That’s why Cody is different!” Marissa winked at me.
All eyes at the table were suddenly on me, and I had no idea what they expected me to say, but they all looked way too eager to hear from me. Heat crept up my neck as I shifted in my chair. Jian’s hand moved down to my knee, squeezing possessively.
“Do you need help with the dishes?” I started to stand, desperate for something to do that didn’t involve talking.
Marissa waved me off. “Absolutely not. You’re our guest. Jian, why don’t you show Cody around the retreat?”
Jian stood abruptly, tugging me up with him. “Fine. Come on.”
I followed him out, hyperaware of his fingers laced through mine as he pulled me through the main house and out onto a stone path that wound through a garden. The morning air was crisp against my face, scented with pine and rain.
“Your family is really nice.”
“I think you meant to say ‘overbearing.’”
I laughed, shaking my head. “No, I meant nice. They’re so warm and loving. I haven’t had much of that.” I cleared my throat. “So, they kept saying fated mate?”
“I wouldn’t be in a relationship with a human unless the human was my fated mate. Clearly, I didn’t think through the consequences of a human boyfriend.”
“What does it mean, though? Fated?”
He waved a hand. “It’s just a silly superstition. Many shifters believe that there is a person out there for each of us. Someone that our animal side, our heart calls for.”
“And they’re not bothered that your person is a guy?”
“No, because it’s a gender-blind connection. It’s based on core emotional needs and desires. For example, your kindness and warmth might soften my loneliness… Not that I’m lonely, I mean.” I cleared my throat. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s all made up.”
My cheeks were hot as I looked down at my feet, shoving my hands in the pockets of my sweatpants, wondering how that would be if it were true. Did he really find me kind? And what did he have that I craved?
“You’re lucky to have them. Luckier than most people.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “Are you an orphan?”
“Nothing so dramatic. Just your usual child of a busy single mom who found her child more of an inconvenience than anything.” “Fuck, I’m sorry.” “She wasn’t mean or abusive, just… probably shouldn’t have had a child. That’s all.”
Before Jian could answer, we rounded a bend, and the path opened into a clearing where an open-sided pavilion housed a dozen people, probably middle-aged and older, moving in slow, synchronized patterns.
“Tai chi?” I asked as we walked over to the Pavillion and stopped to watch.
“Yeah.” Jian shrugged. “The big guy up front leading the class is my uncle Chung. The whole family pitches in.”
“It’s so peaceful; it reminds me of watching water flowing.”
Jian looked at me, something shifting in his expression. “It’s just old people moving slowly.”
“No way.” I shook my head. “Look at how centered they are, how in control of every movement. That takes serious discipline.”
When I looked up, he was staring at me. He pulled me behind the nearest tree, pressing me against the bark until it bit into my back, but I didn’t care. Jian was captivating, and when he nuzzled my nose, I tilted my chin up, offering him my lips.
“You’re not an inconvenience,” he whispered, then leaned in, capturing my mouth with his.
I melted into him, the heat of our morning encounters still putting me on the edge of wild desperation.
He tasted like the jasmine tea we’d had with breakfast—sweet and complex—and I wanted to keep kissing him for as long as possible, so I yanked him closer and wrapped a leg around his waist, clinging to him.
He made a sound low in my throat and drove his tongue in deeper, ravishing my mouth in the most delightful way.
He surfaced for a breath, tracing his lips down my throat. “What was that for?” I asked.
“You looked too fucking cute.” He frowned as if this fact annoyed him. “Stop tempting me.”
I laughed, trailing my fingers along his jaw. “Make me.”
He growled and kissed me again, harder this time, all teeth and rough desperation. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing as close as I could get, drinking him in like I’d been parched for years.
The sound of a group of people coming down the path startled us apart, and he looked down at me, dazed, cheeks flushed.
“The wushu building is next.” He stepped back, holding out his hand to me. “Come on.”
The wushu practice building was beautiful—a soaring space with polished wooden floors and racks of practice weapons along one wall. I ran my hand reverently over a staff, imagining Jian wielding it, all coiled power and precision.
“You teach kids here?” I glanced back at him.
“And adults. It’s nothing special.”
“I don’t think you believe that.” I stepped closer to him. “I think you love it.”
His eyes darkened as he backed me against the weapons rack. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you kiss like you’re starved for it.” I tilted my head, challenging him. “I know you’re pretending to hate all this, but your eyes light up every time I ask about it.”
“I’m not starved, just horny.” He kissed me again. I wondered if he even realized how often he was touching me, how his hands seemed magnetized to my body.
“Are you still going to turn into a panda and let me pet you?”
He glanced around, then dragged my hand between his legs, where his cock pulsed, hard and thick. “Do I have to be a panda to pet me?”
“I suppose I enjoy petting you either way. But maybe you’d better turn into a panda just to be sure?”
“I can’t shift in public. Many of our customers are humans, and I’m a magical creature with secret abilities.”
I squeezed his cock. “Right, so we need somewhere to get more private.”
He pulled me close, fingers digging into my ass. “You’re a menace.”
“You like it.” I nipped at his bottom lip.
“Maybe. We still haven’t seen the hot springs. You want to try one of the private pools?”
My heart skipped. “Definitely.”
He sighed and took my hand, visibly adjusting his bulge before walking back out onto the paths where his family’s customers were still milling about.
He waved as they walked past, then stopped to talk to an older woman who said something to him in Mandarin.
He replied with a cheeky grin, and whatever he said made her laugh and slap him on the shoulder.
I wondered what they were saying, but before I could ask he was tugging me away to a small group of buildings surrounding a steaming pool where a few people relaxed.
Jian stopped to talk to someone before leading me to the building farthest from the public pool, and ducking inside.
Jian slid the door closed behind us, and locked it, enclosing us in the small, private room housing a circular stone tub filled with steaming water, sunk into the ground.
I barely had time to admire it before Jian’s mouth was on mine, his kiss desperate and hungry.
His hands fisted in the fabric of my hoodie, and he yanked it over my head.
My fingers were already working the drawstring of the sweatpants, desperate to be nude, to have my skin against his.
“Watching you in my clothes, looking so fucking pretty and acting so impressed by everything. It’s driving me insane.”
“Good, insane or bad, insane?” I gasped as his teeth scraped down my neck.
He answered by shoving the sweatpants down my legs, leaving me naked and trembling. His eyes darkened as they traveled down my body, lingering on my cock, already hard and leaking against my stomach.
His voice dropped to a register that made my knees weak. “You’re fucking beautiful.”
I reached for him, desperate to feel his skin against mine. “Too many clothes.”
Jian stripped, his movements fluid and graceful.
Each new inch of revealed skin made my mouth water—the defined muscles of his chest, the ripple of his abs, the V-cut of his hips leading down to his cock.
When he finally stood naked before me, I couldn’t help staring.
He was magnificent, every part of him powerful and perfect.
“See something you like?” He smirked, but I caught the vulnerability beneath his bravado.
“Everything.” I stepped forward, trailing my fingers down his chest. “I want everything. But also, you’re making me feel skinny and out of shape.”
“Mm, no. You’re perfect as you are, all willowy and slender. Like I might break you in half if I fuck you too hard.”
I beamed up at him. “Nah, I won’t break.”
That was all it took. Jian surged forward, lifting me like I weighed nothing and wrapping my legs around his waist, before stepping into the hot water and sitting on the bench that lined one wall, with me in his lap.
The heat enveloped me as his mouth claimed mine again, tongues sliding together in a desperate dance.