Circling around the car, she got in and started it up. It was weird with him in the car as a human. “So, what do you remember?” she asked, prodding him into talking before the silence could get stifling. There was something going on that she didn’t understand.
Her dragon man let out a deep sigh. “Not much.” His brow furrowed as he thought. “Just pieces.”
“Well, why don’t you tell me what you can remember?” Terra offered. “Maybe saying it out loud will help.” It would also give her a better idea of who he was.
After a moment of silence, her dragon man let out another long breath and nodded again. “All right.”
He tilted his head back to the headrest. After a few more moments, he started rambling. The words came out slowly. Only fragments of stories at first, but the longer he went on, the longer his stories got.
His life sounds interesting. Most of it was either him in dragon form or centered around training of some type. “Were you in the military?” Terra asked.
The dragon man pulled himself from his thoughts and looked at her. “No.” He shook his head. “Not the military, and not the police, but something.” He raised his hand to his head as if it pained him.
Terra reached her hand over and rested it on the blanket over his leg. “At least you remember something,” she tried to comfort him.
He dropped his hand down over hers. “Yes.” Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes again. “But it’s all pictures and feelings. There is no sound to any of it.”
The soft slide of his thumb across Terra’s skin sent tingles up her arm. She hadn’t meant for him to hold her hand, but now that he had it, she didn’t want to pull it away. Giving in to her strange desires, she rolled her hand over and laced her fingers together with his. “I’ll help you get through this,” she promised. She couldn’t very well leave him as he was.
The dragon man drew in a deep breath and let it rush out from him, then squeezed her hand. “Thank you.” Rolling his head over, he stared at her. “For everything.”
There it was again. That odd wash of desire passed through her again.
Terra stole a quick glance at him. His eyes were just as beautiful now as they had been as a dragon. She would have loved to look at them longer, but she had to pay attention to the road. Later. She would find a time later to really study them. Then maybe she could figure out what to call that amazing mix of colors. Hazel just didn’t cut it.
Unsure of how to respond to him or to the feelings swirling through her, she simply drove on as he held and caressed her hand. When the silence got too intimate for her, she gave him another quick glance. The look in his eyes heated her insides more than anything her last three boyfriends had done. And that was just a look.
Clearing her throat, she broke into the silence with the first thing that popped into her head. “So… What type of clothing do you want?” Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Of all the dumb things she could have picked to break the silence with, she had to pick the one thing that reminded them both that he was naked. She glanced back over at him. A grin had slid across his face.
“At this moment, anything would be better than what I’m wearing,” he teased.
With a quick turn of the head, she shot him a dirty look. “Are you dissing my handmade quilt?” she sassed back.
“I would never dream of it.”
The fake innocent tone he took made Terra laugh.
“But seriously, jeans and a T-shirt will be fine. And I promise, as soon as I find out who I am, I will pay you back.”
Another laugh bubbled out of her. “I’m not worried about it.” She gave him another glance. “So…” She bit her lip and jumped into the question now pulling at her mind. To hell with caution and propriety. “Boxers or briefs?”
He chuckled. “I don’t remember,” he said and gave her an amused smile. “Why don’t you pick, and we’ll see how it goes.” His smile took on a naughty edge. “Of course, if I don’t like them, I could always go without.”
The blush that had been hinting at Terra’s cheeks flamed into life. Oh good Lord! Even if the man couldn’t remember anything else, he certainly remembered how to flirt.
Luckily, they didn’t have much farther to go until they reached the store. She hated to do it, but she pulled her hand from his so she could turn into the parking lot. Picking a spot away from the building, she pulled in and killed the engine. At least he would have a little bit of privacy while she went inside. Biting her lip, she turned to look at her dragon man. There were so many ways she could respond to his suggestion, but all of them were inappropriate and would likely get her into more trouble than she was already in. And she was already in trouble. Deep. But then again, an inappropriate response could make for a very entertaining evening. It was, after all, starting to get late. She chewed on the idea for a moment longer before deciding. No. She knew nothing of this man. He could have a girlfriend, or worse, a wife. It was best to keep everything on a more professional level.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” With that, Terra slid from the car and escaped to the safety of the store. For all she knew, he could be trouble just looking for a place to happen.
Alex let out a long sigh as he watched Terra head into the store. Somehow, he knew it wasn’t like him to flirt, but she made it so easy. Leaning his head back against the seat, he closed his eyes and thought about her. The softness of her skin against his. The flash of those blue eyes as she stole glances at him. And how could he forget the soft pink that colored her cheeks and stole his breath away. He could have easily spent hours just staring at her.
She wasn’t a beauty by any sense of the traditional views, but she was easy on his eyes. Her soft, brown hair looked as if it had been styled short and left to grow out. Too short to pull back, and too long for the cut. Physically, she was built as he would expect a farm girl to be. Long and lean. She was probably much stronger than she appeared. He couldn’t remember if he had a favorite type of girl, but she just became it. The dragon bit of him curled around in contentment at the idea of keeping her.
He slammed that thought down before the roots could grow any more than they already had. There were more important things to worry about right now. Like finding out who he was. For all he knew, he had a girlfriend somewhere. That thought made him pause. No, he didn’t have a girlfriend, but that didn’t mean he had time to get one now. No, he needed to concentrate on finding out who he was and remembering that important thing he was sure he’d forgotten. Later, there would be time to pursue other interests. And, oh boy, would he enjoy that pursuit.
5
Opening the door, Terra slid into the car with her bags. She glanced over at her dragon man resting in the seat. He had tilted his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. Sound asleep. Terra smiled at him. Damn, he was good looking. And that little bit of stubble on his cheek made him that much hotter. Balling her fingers in the bags, she resisted the urge to reach out and feel the coarse hair.
She shook her head, trying to clear it. What in the hell had come over her? Sure he was hot, but she’d met a lot of good-looking guys. That didn’t mean she wanted to crawl into their laps and lick their faces. It had to be all the excitement and mystery that went with him. Yes. That was it. She was just turned on by the whole idea of what was going on. A strange man without a memory. And naked to boot! She just needed to get her hormones under control so they could solve his problem.