For the Memory of Dragons (12 page)

After a few moments, he pulled back
reluctantly. He took several short breaths before pulling her in to
rest her cheek on his chest.

Terra held on for dear life as she waited
for the tingling racing through her body to subside.

“I will not take chances with you.” The
words rumbled from his chest. Had Terra not been leaning against
him, she might not have caught them. After a few more minutes, he
pushed her back so she was standing on her own. “Come with me.”
Taking her hand, he led her deeper into the room.

Three rows of lockers stood with benches
between them. Alex stopped at the end of one of the rows and turned
to face a locker. He jiggled the handle on the thing, but the door
was stuck tight. Terra grinned when he made another one of those
contemplative noises and reached up and banged on the top corner of
the door. The door swung free, revealing a whole world of
things.

Alex grinned as he reached in and started
pulling stuff out. “Shoes.” He lifted a pair of heavy boots from
the bottom of the locker. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!” Stepping back,
he sat down on the bench and slipped his feet out of the slippers
Terra had gotten him.

Terra glanced in the locker, eager to find
out what it could tell her about Alex. The inside of the door was
covered in photos. Most of them were men or dragons. She scanned
the faces. Several of them were repeated in the photos as their
owners posed together. Alex was in many, but he was always the one
standing on the edge of the group. She glanced back at him as he
settled his feet into his boots.
He
was
the standoffish
type.
She looked at the photos again. Not a single one of them
was of Alex and what could be a girlfriend.
A hundred and fifty
years old, and the man didn’t have a girlfriend. That was kind of
sad.

“That is
so
much better.”

Terra turned as Alex stood up and picked the
slippers up.

He tucked them into the bottom of the locker
and slipped his coat off. Holding the jacket out, he turned to
Terra. “Here.” He shifted it around so she could put it on.

“What?” Terra looked at the coat,
confused.

“Put this on,” Alex said as he wrapped the
soft leather around Terra’s shoulders. “You’ll need it.” He made
Terra slip her arms down the sleeves so it was on properly.

“Why?” she asked. The smooth leather jacket
had a thick lining. It would be nice outside, but the temperature
in the building was almost too warm for it. Especially with the
heat Alex’s body had left in it.
Mmm, it smelled like him,
too.

“Trust me.” Alex turned back to the locker
and pulled a black motorcycle helmet from the shelf at the top.
“You are going to want it in a minute.” Turning, he slammed the
locker door shut and led the way to another door. “Come on, I have
something I need to check out.”

Terra stood there and considered her dragon
man for a moment. Ever since he had gotten his memories back, he
had become cryptic. And Terra wasn’t sure she liked that very much.
“Where are we going?” she asked as she moved over to him.

Alex let out a deep breath before answering.
“There was something I was supposed to do yesterday, and I need to
find out if I did it.”

“Check on Melanie?” Terra asked.

Alex nodded and ushered her out into the
main barn. “Yes.” He sounded grim. “I don’t think things went very
well, but I have to go find out.”

Terra nodded. If there were something he
needed to do, she would help however she could. Turning her
attention to the large room, she looked around. There wasn’t much
going on here. A few racks of things sat along one wall, but most
of the space was empty. A large door hung open on one side of the
room. Alex’s gentle hand on her back guided her into the room and
pointed her to the corner where a lone motorcycle sat by itself. It
could have been a Harley, but Terra wasn’t sure.

“Come on,” Alex said again, ushering her
across the room. Stopping next to the bike, he turned and slipped
the helmet onto Terra’s head. “You probably won’t need this, but…”
he let his words go without finishing.

Terra smiled as he worked the strap tight
under her chin. “You know, we could take my car,” she offered.

“True.” Alex grinned as he went to the
motorcycle and started it up. “But then I wouldn’t have an excuse
to keep you close.” He held out his hand for Terra.

Taking his hand, Terra climbed on the bike
behind him. Soon, Alex had the bike out the door and was tooling
down the road as Terra held on to him. She rested her head against
his back to better enjoy the ride. God, she hoped he knew where he
was going.

***

The wind that had been pulling the warmth
from the leather jacket slowed as Alex turned down a dirt road.
Terra sat up more as Alex guided the bike between the deep grooves
of the path. It was a good thing they hadn’t brought her car. It
would have never survived the trip over the rutted-up road. As it
was, Alex had to take it easy, or the uneven ground would bounce
them both off the bike. Terra gritted her teeth and clung to Alex’s
warm back as they went.

About a half a mile of hard riding brought
them to a tall farmhouse. The building was well maintained and
looked quite pleasant. Alex stopped the bike in front of the
building but didn’t turn it off.

Terra waited as he watched the front of the
house. Tired of being on the bike, she shifted so she could get up
and stretch the cramps out of her back and legs. Unused to sitting
in that position for so long, she was ready to get off the bike for
a while.

Alex’s hand came down on her leg, stopping
her from getting up. “Not here,” he said softly and kicked off,
setting the bike back in motion.

Confused, Terra turned to look at the quiet
farmhouse. Movement from one of the curtains caught her attention.
“Someone’s there,” she yelled over the sound of the bike.

“I know,” Alex called back, “but it isn’t
who we’re looking for.”

“How do you know?” she yelled back. Hadn’t
they just traveled a long way over rough roads to find out what had
happened yesterday?

Alex sat quietly for a moment as he guided
the bike back down the dirt road. “The window was broken.”

Okay…
Confusion welled up inside of
Terra.
What difference does a broken window make?
“Explain,”
she called.

Shaking his head, Alex took a long, deep
breath before answering. “I can’t. My instincts tell me something’s
wrong, and I’m not about to take any chances at the moment. Give me
a little time, and I’ll figure something out. ”

Nodding, Terra turned her head and leaned
her cheek against Alex’s back. It must be bothersome to have your
instincts lead you around like that. But then again, if his
instincts had just saved them from some unknown danger, maybe they
weren’t all bad.

***

Terra was more than ready to get off the
bike when Alex finally pulled into the drive of a ranch-style home.
“Can I get down now?” she asked.

A soft chuckle slipped from Alex as he held
the motorcycle up. “Yes,” he said, amused.

Climbing off the bike, Terra pulled her
helmet off and looked at this house. It was a really nice house.
The outside was wrapped in brown clapboard siding and edged with
river rocks. The huge yard was elegantly landscaped and well
maintained.
Very impressive.
“So who lives here?”

Alex let out another soft laugh. “I do.”
Having set the bike on its kickstand, he went up to the double-car
garage and pushed one of the rolling doors up.

“Oh!” Terra said, feeling foolish. She
propped the helmet on the back seat of the bike and followed Alex
into the garage. “It’s very nice.” She paused to look around the
man’s garage. It was very neatly organized. A dark green SUV took
up one side of the spacious garage.

“Thank you,” he said as he unlocked the
inside door. “It’s home.” He held the door open so Terra could
enter.

Hurrying along, she stepped through the door
and onto a rosy, wooden floor. She looked around for a second
before heading down the short hall towards a living room. The place
was nicely done in dark tones with wood accents. Terra paused just
past a set of steps and glanced around the open floor plan. The
room was very spacious. A comfy-looking couch face a large, stone
fireplace on her right, while an amazing kitchen sprawled out to
her left. The two areas were separated with a bar-height counter
made of the same river stone as the fireplace.

Placing his hand on her lower back, Alex
slipped past Terra into the kitchen space.

She stepped forwards out of his way before
following him into the kitchen. “So, you got your memories
back?”

Alex made an annoyed sound deep in his
chest. “Mostly,” he answered as he pulled open the
refrigerator.

Terra made a matching annoyed sound. Before
they had stopped at The Dragon’s Wing, he had talked in complete
sentences. Now that he was regaining his memories, he was being
cryptic, and she didn’t like that one bit.

Alex must have felt or heard Terra’s
irritation. He let out a deep sigh and shut the refrigerator door.
“Yes, I have regained most of my memories.” He came over and took
up Terra’s hands. “But there are still things I can’t remember.
Important things.” Lifting her hands up, he laid a kiss on the back
of them before holding them to his chest. “I just need a little
more time to sort through the stuff in my head before I can decide
what to do.” He shifted both of her hands to one of his and reached
out to push a stray lock of hair away from her face. “Please, have
a little patience with me as I work through this.”

Terra felt like a heel. Here she was,
irritated that he wasn’t sharing his thoughts when he was still
sorting through them. Of course it would take a little time to sift
through a lifetime of memories. And it would be irritating that
there were important pieces missing.

“I’m sorry.” She dropped her eyes away from
his as she apologized. “I didn’t mean to push you.”

Reaching out, Alex pulled her in against
him. “It’s all right,” he reassured her as he rested his cheek
against her hair. “I haven’t been very attentive.” Wrapping his
arms around her, he held Terra close.

A soft laugh slipped from her as she slid
her arms up around his back and rested her head against him. “And I
haven’t been very patient.” She sighed.

“It’s all right.” His voice held a hint of
contentment. “Today hasn’t been easy on either of us.” He held her
for a while longer before letting out a long sigh and loosening his
hold on her. “Why don’t you make yourself at home, and I’ll make us
something to eat?”

Terra smiled at him. “That sounds like a
wonderful idea.” It had been several hours since they’d had
breakfast.

They stood together for a moment longer
before Alex pulled away. He placed a light kiss on Terra’s cheek
before releasing her completely. “Is there anything special you
would like?” he asked as he went back and opened the
refrigerator.

“Whatever.’’ Terra shrugged and shifted
uncomfortably. The morning had been long, and that ride on the bike
hadn’t done her any good. “Can I borrow your bathroom?”

“It’s around the corner, under the steps.”
Alex nodded back to the short hall that led to the garage.

It took Terra a moment to find the half bath
tucked under the stairs. The wall was lined with knotty pine
panels, and the door blended right in. Had it not been for the
small loop handle, she would never have seen it. It was a very nice
way to tuck the washroom out of the way. Pulling off Alex’s coat,
she folded it over the sink and dropped the leather bag on the
floor. She was actually surprised to find the thing still on her
hip. It wasn’t very heavy, and she had totally forgotten that she
had it.

Sitting down, she relaxed and let her mind
wander over the morning. They had finally figured out who her
mystery man was. Alexander Fied. A dragon with a job to do. And a
very nice house. Terra glanced around the small room. It was
painted the same rich browns as the rest of the house.
And to
think, he was worried about not having anything to offer a
mate.

That thought gave her a moment’s pause.
A
dragon’s mate. What did that really mean?
The way Alex had
talked about it, Terra was sure it was something permanent, like
marriage. Surprisingly, that idea didn’t scare Terra much. She
hadn’t known him very long, but Alex seemed like the type of person
her mother would approve of. Of course, they would have to start
out by dating for a while first. Jumping straight into any
relationship was a stupid idea, but she could see potential in the
man.
Alexander Fied. Eww.
If she did stay with him, she
would have to seriously think about taking his name. That would
make her Terra Fied. Terrified. Yeah, that wasn’t going to
happen.

And how would it work out, anyway?
If
the information she had learned was correct, dragons lived for
hundreds of years. Alex’s own identification listed him as over one
hundred and fifty years old, though he looked nowhere near that
age. But what about her? She would only live to be eighty or
ninety. And she would age, while he would not. Yeah, that wasn’t
going to work in a relationship no matter how much you cared for
someone. Terra drew in a deep breath and made her decision. It
didn’t matter how much she liked the man or how good their
chemistry was, they could never have a future together. Maybe a few
good years until she started to age, but then what? No, it was
better to let him go now before things got out of control.

Finishing her business, Terra washed her
hands and glanced at herself in the mirror. The vision that greeted
her was horrifying. Being shoved under a helmet hadn’t done
anything for her hair. Digging in her bag, she pulled out a brush
and set about doing something with the mess on her head. Once it
was back in place, she dropped the brush back into her purse,
slipped the strap of the leather bag back over her head, and pulled
on Alex’s jacket so she didn’t have to carry it. When she returned
to the kitchen, she would give him back his things and explain that
she couldn’t be his mate. Terra gave herself one last nod in the
mirror and opened the door to go face her dragon man.