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There was no way the two of them
could go through that much pizza.
    He just shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a
dragon.” With that, he went back to rummaging in the bag.
    Okay… Terra turned her attention back
to the road to hunt down a pizza joint. If he could put away two
full pizzas in one sitting, she would hate to see what his food
bill for a month would be.
    “What’s this?”
    Terra glanced over to see what her dragon
man had pulled from the bag.
    He held up a pack of low-rise, cotton
panties.
    Reaching out, Terra shoved the pack back in
the bag. “That’s my bag!” She yanked the plastic from his hands and
shoved it into the back seat.
    He snickered. “I was wondering why you had
gotten me pink underwear.”
    Terra shot him a dirty look. Only one pair
of the panties was pink. The other two were flowered. “Well excuse
me for wanting clean underwear,” she huffed. “It’s not like I could
go home and get any.”
    The dragon man let out a long sigh. “I’m
sorry.” Regret was heavy in his voice. “I didn’t mean for you to
get caught up in my problems.” He pulled the blanket back around
him tightly.
    Nice going, numbskull. “Hey.” Terra
reached over and dropped her hand on his leg. “I didn’t mean to
snap at you. I know you didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” She
patted his leg in a comforting way. “We’ll figure it out.”
    A weak, ironic laugh slipped out of him. “At
least you can walk away from this any time you want.” There was a
depressed note in his voice that made Terra’s heart clench.
    “No.” She patted his leg again. “I won’t
leave you like this.” She glanced over to see him staring at her
with those beautiful eyes. “I’ll help you find the answers you
need.”
    A spark of hope lit his face.
    “But first,” she said as she pulled her hand
from his leg. “Let’s see about some food.” She turned the car into
the parking lot of a pizza place. “I’ll be right back.” She paused
before jumping out of the car and considered him. “Will you be okay
here by yourself?” There was something in his posture that made her
want to hold him close and tell him everything would be fine.
    A slight smile curved up the corner of his
mouth. “I’ll be fine. Go.”
    Terra considered him for a moment longer
before getting out. It was amazing how fast he had gone from joking
to depressed. If he were going to take her teasing so seriously,
she would have to watch what she said around him. She was, after
all, just getting to know him.
     
    ***
     
    Alex watched Terra as she disappeared into
the building. What the hell was wrong with him? He had just gone
from laughing and joking to dark and depressed in a matter of
seconds. The mood swing had hit him so fast it left his head
spinning. If he didn’t know any better, he would have said he was
pregnant, or brooding.
    That thought made him stop. Brooding. He knew that word but couldn’t remember what it meant. A flash of
scales provided him with the answer his human mind couldn’t come up
with. It was a time in a male dragon’s life where his hormones got
out of whack, usually caused by a growth spurt, a female dragon
during her fertile period, or when faced with a potential mate.
    Alex was sure he was finished growing, so a
growth spurt was out of the question. He would’ve had to have spent
a fair amount of time in the presence of a fertile female for that
to bring on a brooding, and he didn’t think that was the case. So,
that left a potential mate. The ads in the window of the shop hid
most of the lobby, but Alex could just see Terra waiting in the
short line. A feeling of contentment rolled through him.
    He closed his eyes and focused on his dragon
bit. “She’s human,” he protested.
    His dragon laughed at him. That was a weak
argument, and both of his halves knew it.
    Taking a human as a mate could be
problematic, but there were lots of dragons who did. Dragons tended
to live much longer than the average