For the Memory of Dragons (9 page)

A wave of pleasure rippled through Alex as
he watched Terra take that first bite of food. He closed his eyes,
trying to contain the feelings washing through him. It wasn’t the
fact that he found enjoyment in watching her eat; it was the fact
that he had just fulfilled one of the basic needs of his
instincts—providing for his mate. And right now, his instincts were
riding him hard.

Drawing in a deep breath, Alex opened his
eyes back up and looked around. He always loved the way the world
looked when he was in dragon form, but this was the first time he
had seen it that way in human form. His dragon was so close to the
surface that it would take nothing to pop out scales. Just that
passing thought sent a ripple along his shoulders and down his
arms. It was probably a good thing that Terra had gotten him a
long-sleeved shirt. A half transformation like he was experiencing
usually signaled some form of mental break. Had anyone seen the
blue tint to his skin, they would have been on the phone to the
authorities, and he didn’t have time for that now. There were more
important things to do, like telling Terra what she needed to know.
Only then would his dragon back down again.

“How familiar are you with dragons?” Alex
asked. He could almost see her thoughts swirling as she considered
how to answer him.

“Not very.” She set her fork on the table,
waiting for him to continue.

Two long sections on his back itched as his
dragon pushed against his skin. “Please eat, and I’ll explain.”

Terra gave him a pointed look but picked up
her fork again.

The itching along his back subsided. He
needed to get himself back under control before things got really
bad. And it started with telling her everything.

“Dragons are complicated creatures. We are
blessed with rational minds, but we are also driven by instincts.
And that can give us issues from time to time.” He pulled his glass
of juice over and rolled it between his hands so his fingers would
have something to do while he talked. “Every dragon has three
forms; a grand form, a lesser form, and a human form. While we can
switch between them at will, it’s very rare for the forms to
overlap.”

“But, your eyes?” She pointed towards him
with a forkful of eggs.

Alex looked down at his glass and smiled. Of
course she would notice his eyes. He was just lucky no one else
had.

“Yes.” He looked back up at her. “There are
times when the two sides merge. It’s called balance, and it’s
usually a bad thing. It’s a sign of mental instability.”

Tension ran through Terra, making her sit
taller in her chair.

“Relax,” he soothed her. “A dragon can also
enter into balance when there is a major split between their two
halves. Say, if the dragon wants something, but the human half
won’t give in. If the want or need is strong enough, the dragon
aspect will force its way to the surface, creating a balance—a
merging of the two forms.”

Carefully, Alex pushed his sleeve up. The
tips of blue scales had already pushed their way through his
skin.

Terra gasped as he slid his sleeve back into
place.

“Don’t worry,” he tried to soothe her again.
“I am stable. I’m just at an impasse. My dragon wants something
that I can’t give it.”

“You haven’t seemed very stable to me,”
Terra huffed as she picked up her juice and drained the short
glass.

Alex snickered softly and pushed his
untouched juice towards her. “No. I haven’t been. But that ties
into my current troubles. See, a lot of things in a dragon’s life
are driven by instinct and hormones. As long as we listen to those
little cues, we’re fine, but there are times when our systems get
upset and we lose those pointers. It leads to wild mood swings and
brooding.”

“Like when you fall from the sky and get
bashed in your head?”

This pulled another soft laugh from Alex.
“No. A fall won’t mess with a dragon’s system. A growth spurt will.
And a female dragon at the peak of fertility will.” He paused and
considered Terra for a moment before going on. This was the main
thing his dragon was pushing him to do. “There is one other thing
that can push a dragon into a brooding. Being faced with a
potential mate.”

All color drained from Terra’s face. “I take
it you aren’t having a growth spurt?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “No.”

“Wow.” She said the word so softly that he
almost didn’t hear it. Folding her hands into her lap, she stared
at her half-finished food for a moment. Lifting her eyes, she met
his gaze. “How come you can remember all this, but you don’t
remember your name?”

Leaning back in his chair, Alex grinned
again. “I don’t, but my dragon does.”

“Can your dragon tell you who you are?” That
was a very sensible question from someone that didn’t know anything
about dragons.

Alex sighed. “It’s told me what I am, but
not who. I’m an Elite. I know I’ve earned the right to use that
title, but I don’t remember what that means.” This point frustrated
him to no end. If he could just get two brain cells working
together, he was sure he could come up with the answers he needed,
but they all seemed to be on different vacations at the moment.

“So, what does your dragon want?” Terra
asked timidly.

Alex closed his eyes and drew in a steadying
breath, trying to center himself as much as he could, given his
messed-up state. Opening his eyes, he gave Terra a pointed look.
“It’s driving me to claim a mate.”

“A mate?” There was a touch of alarm in
Terra’s voice.

“A girl that it’s deemed would fit well into
my life.”

“Someone you’ve met recently?”

Alex smiled. Now she was just playing with
him. “Very recently.”

Just a hint of red crawled up Terra’s skin
as she looked down and toyed with her napkin. “Maybe someone I
know?”

“It’s most definitely someone you know.” He
loved the way she looked with that blush on her skin. “But Terra,
here’s the problem. I can’t pursue anyone until I know what kind of
life I could offer.”

***

Wow!
This was not how Terra had
envisioned the day would go. After being thoroughly rejected by her
dragon man, she was sure they would have an awkward day running
around, trying to find out who he was. But this was just over the
top. To be told that you could possibly be someone’s mate was a
little disturbing. She hadn’t even known him for a full day yet,
and most of that time, he had been out cold!

Looking up from her napkin, Terra studied
the lines of her dragon man’s face. His pupils were still oddly
shaped, but now that she was used to it, his emotions were easy to
read there. He seemed serene on the outside, but she could tell
this whole thing had him severely distressed. Her heart thumped in
her chest. It actually hurt to see him in such a state. The idea of
being tied to someone she barely knew was frightening, but she
couldn’t stand the idea of leaving him as he was. She slid her hand
out across the table for him to take.

He blinked a few times before lowering his
hand to hers.

She squeezed his fingers reassuringly. “Tell
me what I can do to help.” There was just something about him that
made her want to do whatever she could to see him right again.

The dragon man let out a depressed laugh.
“Shoot me down.” Gripping her fingers tightly, he closed his eyes
to wait for the blow.

“What?” Terra asked, shocked. Of all the
things she thought he would say, that was not one of them.

He opened his eyes and looked at her again.
“Tell me there is no way I stand a chance with you. And mean it.”
He paused for a second before he went on. “That should be enough of
a blow to knock me out of balance and back into a brooding
state.”

Okay…
A complete rejection would
settle his system back down. But could she really tell him that and
mean it? Did she want to? She had to know more before she made any
lasting decisions. “And what happens if I refuse?”

The pupils of his eyes dilated as he drew in
a sharp breath. He sat rigid in his seat for a moment before
letting out the air very slowly as if he were considering how to
respond to her. His mouth moved, and he swallowed before
answering.

“Well, that would drop me out of balance,
too.” He paused and swallowed again. “But it wouldn’t do anything
to settle down my instincts.”

Terra rubbed her thumb over his knuckles as
she considered his answer. If she shot him down, he would go back
to brooding. Brooding didn’t sound like a very pleasant state to be
in. For either of them. But, if she didn’t, would that mean she was
encouraging him? And how would that affect the situation they had
found themselves in? He needed her to help him find out who he was,
and she wasn’t going to leave the poor man helpless. She studied
him, weighing her options.

He sat tensely in his seat, waiting for her
answer. The skin on the side of his neck was taking on a blue tint.
She was going to have to give him an answer very soon before
someone noticed his plight. Licking her lower lip, she asked the
last thing she needed to know before making her choice. “If I
refuse, does that make me your mate?”

The dragon man drew in another long breath
and let it out slowly. “No,” he answered. “It takes more than that
to form a mating bond, but it’s a step in that direction.” The
heated look in his eyes made Terra wiggle in her seat.

She drew her hand away from him and folded
it into her lap. “Well then, I guess we had better find out who you
are, ‘cause I don’t think I could shoot you down and truly mean
it.” Pushing back from the table, she stood up.

The dragon man followed her motion and stood
up, too.

“Please,” she held her hands out, waving him
back to his seat. “Sit back down and eat. I’m just going to the
bathroom.”

He hesitated for a moment. “Will you be
okay?”

Terra laughed out loud, breaking the tension
hanging between them. “I’ll be fine.” She smiled. “Eat your
breakfast so we can get moving. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Turning, she left to find the restroom. She wasn’t sure if she
wanted to be a dragon’s mate, but turning the man down before she
found out what life with him would be like just didn’t seem right.
Only time would tell if they could work it out together.

***

Alex watched Terra walk away before settling
back into his seat. Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh. His
skin itched as his dragon withdrew, contented with the answer she
had given him. He stood a chance, and that was all his dragon
wanted—a chance. Opening his eyes, he found that his vision had
returned to normal.

Looking at his untouched food, he picked up
his fork and pulled the plate closer to himself. Now that she had
eaten, he was free to consume as much as he liked. Unfortunately,
the answer she had given did nothing to clear the main conflict
running around in him. He still didn’t know who he was, and that
did a lot to curb his appetite. Forcing himself to eat, he
considered what course to take from here. They still had to go to
the pub and find out if anyone knew who he was. But now he also had
to deal with his dragon chasing after Terra. That was going to add
a whole new layer of interesting to everything else going on.

Alex was nearly finished with his food when
a tingle of electricity raced up his spine. He sat up and turned
his head just enough to see Terra walking back into the room.
Great…
Since she hadn’t rejected him, his dragon had tuned
itself into her. He tracked her as she crossed the dining area and
settled back into her seat. Warmth radiated through him as his
dragon settled down contently, draining the excess tension from
him.
Wonderful!
He hadn’t even noticed that his dragon had
been alert, waiting for her return. He almost wished she had turned
him down and left him to brood. It wouldn’t have made life much
easier, but brooding was something he was used to.

A rumble of anger echoed up from his chest
as his dragon disagreed with that thought.

Terra’s eyebrows went up in surprise.

The corner of Alex’s lip turned up in a wry
smile. “Sorry. I’m still having an argument with myself.” He
dropped his fork to his plate and slid it away from him. He really
did need to get himself back under control.

Terra eyed the few bites he hadn’t finished
before looking up and considering him. “Are you all right?”

“No, but I will be,” he reassured her. “I
just need some time to work things out.” He paused and let out an
ironic laugh. “Well, that and my memories.”

Oh yes, he needed his memories. Hopefully,
most of his immediate problems would be solved when he rediscovered
who he was.

She snickered softly. “Then how about we get
started on that right now?” Picking up her purse, Terra fished her
phone out. “So, what was the name of that place?” she asked as she
slid her thumb across the screen, unlocking it.

Alex smiled at her and started collecting
the used dishes. “The Dragon’s Wing.” The name felt right coming
out of his mouth, like he had said it many times but just couldn’t
remember it.

Terra clicked away at her phone for a
moment. “It’s on the other side of town, but I think we can find
it.” She looked up at him. “Are you ready?”

“In just a moment.” Standing up, Alex took
the dirty dishes over to the plastic tub waiting for them. He
turned around just in time to see Terra slip his leather bag over
her shoulder and tuck her purse inside. The motion made him smile.
He had forgotten all about that satchel.

“I’ll take those,” Alex said as he reached
out and gently took the plastic bags before she could get a proper
grip on them.

She gave him a confused look. “Are you
sure?”