“Oh.”
Alex watched as Terra turned her attention back to the car. The look on her face was thoughtful. Alex relaxed back into the seat to let her think. Hopefully, the truth hadn’t scared her off the idea of being his mate. But only time would tell.
9
The Dragon’s Wing was like no other place Terra had ever been. It was easy to find if you were looking for it, but it was also far enough out of town that people wouldn’t just stumble across it while out looking for a good time. A hand-carved sign held a green dragon curled around the name of the pub. If they hadn’t been watching for it, they could have easily mistaken the old building for the barn it had once been.
“Do you know this place?” Terra asked as she pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine. The look on her dragon man’s face told her he was working through his scrambled memories, but things most definitely clicked into place as he studied the tall building.
He leaned forwards and placed his hand on the dash as he stared out the windshield. “Yes.”
He breathed the word so softly Terra almost missed it. Well, that answer was promising.
“Then let’s go see if they can tell us who you are.”
Pulling her keys out of the ignition, Terra got out of the car. She pulled the dragon man’s leather bag out and slung it over her shoulder. With the awed look on his face, there was no way her mystery man would remember the thing on his own. Since there was plenty of room in the bag, she dropped her purse back in so she would only have to keep up with one bag.
Climbing from the car, her dragon man met her at the front of the car. His eyes ran over every inch of the rustic building. “I know this place.” His words held a note of wonder to them.
Terra looked up at the pub. The foundation and ground floor of the old barn were done up in river rocks. Long, wooden planks ran vertically up the sides, holding up a high, A-frame roof.
“Come on.” Reaching out, Terra grabbed the man’s hand and pulled him towards the door set in the center of the building.
A soft laugh crept out of him, and he hurried to catch up to her. He slipped his arm around her shoulder, tucking her to his side.
Terra enjoyed the feel of him around her, but the conversation they’d had over breakfast played in the back of her mind. Males pamper their mates. Was this a part of that? Should she stop him until they found out who he was? Did she want to? She shook her head and squished that line of thought. There would be time enough to deal with that once they had answers to the mystery of who he was.
Stopping at the heavy wooden door, he pulled it open and let Terra lead the way in.
The door opened into a very small foyer. Three or four people might have been able to fit in the area, but only if they were close friends. Terra looked around at the walls. They were covered in old tin advertisement signs nailed into the wooden walls. Very rustic. The dragon man stepped into the area behind her, and a bell chimed as the door clicked closed.
Terra moved forwards to see into the main room. It was cozy. Small oil lamps sat at the center of each table, adding to the natural light that flowed in through the windows. There were a few people scattered around, but overall, it was fairly quiet for a bar.
“Hello,” a cheerful voice called from the right.
Terra turned towards the sound.
A young woman with a high ponytail bounced towards them. “Just one?” she asked.
The dragon man stepped up behind Terra so the waitress could see him. “Two,” he answered.
“Lex!” The young woman bounced harder. “God, we were so worried with the way you took off out of here yesterday. Was everything okay with Melanie?”
The name struck a chord with Terra. It took her a moment to drag up where she had heard that name before. Melanie. That was the name of the last dragon in the file. Terra glanced up at her mystery man and watched as confusion and concern raced across his face.
“I don’t remember,” he said softly and raised his hand up to touch his head as if it hurt. Closing his eyes, he rubbed his temple.
The young woman stopped her excited bounce and cocked her head in concern. “Alex, are you all right?” She reached her hand out towards him. Just before she touched him, she stopped and curled her fingers up.
“Yes,” the man said as he shook his head no.
The waitress pulled her hand back and stared at him in confusion.
“He’s had a long day,” Terra said, breaking into the building tension.
She looked up at her mystery man. Alex. That name fit him well. At the moment, he looked rather pale. Terra turned her attention back to the waitress.
“Could we possibly have someplace to sit down and get some water?”
The question startled the woman back into her job. “Yes. Of course. This way.” She turned and led them deeper into the pub.
Reaching out, Terra laid her hand on Alex’s arm. “Come on.” She drew him into the main room and pushed him after the waitress with a hand on his back.
Alex nodded and went where she directed him.
There weren’t very many people in the pub, but every eye was on them as Terra pushed Alex through the tables. She glanced around at the faces. Hadn’t they ever seen someone in pain before? Or maybe he wasn’t one to accept help. Terra thought back to the way the waitress had stopped before she touched him. Terra rubbed her fingers in the soft material at the small of his back. Could it be the fact that she was touching him? Maybe her dragon man wasn’t the touchy-feely type. Terra looked up at him. That couldn’t be. Her dragon man had never had any qualms about touching her. He seemed to like it. She definitely did.
Seeing where her thoughts were leading, Terra shook her head slightly. There were more important things to think about right now. Like figuring out who her dragon man was. Terra gave her head another soft shake. She had to stop thinking of him as ‘her dragon man’. Now that she knew it, she really needed to think of him using his name. Yes. He’s Alex now.
Closing his eyes, Alex trusted Terra’s soft touch to guide him through the pub. He needed a moment to collect himself after the young woman had stirred his memories. A rush of images had overwhelmed him as a mess of things came back to him at once. They jumbled over one another, all demanding to be seen. A hushed conversation in a secluded corner table. The rush of air over wings. The breaking of glass. A sense of dread. The tingle of electricity over scales. Each more important than the last, and each just a ghost of what the full memory should have been.
“Hey.”
Terra’s soft voice and the feel of her hand on his back pulled Alex out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes to look at the booth where the waitress had led them. It was familiar. He had been here. Many times. A flash of memory hit, and he reached out and grabbed onto the tabletop. Terra’s hand gripped him as he swayed on his feet.
“Let me go get you that water.” The young woman leading them turned to hurry off but stopped and looked back. “Or would you rather have the usual?”
The usual? With random memories churning through his brain, Alex couldn’t recall what his usual was. “Please,” he answered. Just trying to think of what he usually got made him want the unknown substance.