Alveus (ABC's Inc. Romance #1) Read online

  Just as his head was about to protest the sickening floral musk of her strong perfume, she widened the gap between them enough to lead him into a group of men. Of course she realized her faux pas when the attention was turned to Aly. At the gentlemen’s bidding, Dane stiffly made introductions. They fawned over her, pulling Aly from his grasp and kissing her hand. He found himself glaring at them, irked – another new experience for him. It didn’t sooth his irritation when she graciously fed their individual egos, leaving them panting after her like puppies starved for affection. He slid his arm around her waist, possessively. Penelope, being the pro that she was at angling attention back onto herself, steered the conversation to business.

  “Donald and I are working on the Fairfield Project and are thinking about using solar roadways,” she said, pulling her partner forward from the horde. “We heard that Brighton was leading the pack with modifying their solar panels to increase their resistance. How productive do you think they would be in Britain’s overcast environment?”

  “Overcast doesn’t mean the solar rays aren’t getting to the Earth’s surface,” Dane said, “Once the panels are fully charged it’s just a matter of continued absorbency. It would depend on the type of traffic running over them as to how much wear and tear they could take before affecting productivity. We’re concentrating our efforts on increasing the durability.”

  “How are you going to manage the higher costs, with the silicon shortages?” Donald wanted to know.

  “It’s our top priority, right now,” Dane replied. “We’re looking into thin-film processes to keep the cost down, but the efficiency is lower than that of silicon.”

  “What about organic polymers?” Aly asked. The conversation paused as the group took in the fact that she had spoken. It was unexpected to have a date insinuating themselves into a business discussion. Eyes turned to her as if she’d grown a second head.

  “As I said, it is not as efficient as silicon,” Dane gently rebutted her idea.

  “I was speaking of the self-healing polymers developed at the University of Illinois,” she continued, unfazed. “Even electrical circuits have been successfully engineered with self-healing properties.”

  “How do you know this?” Dane was flabbergasted at her intellect. Again he silently questioned her life choices.

  “I read a lot,” she shrugged, “and I know some of the scientists involved in the research.”

  “The idea does have merit,” one of the businessmen observed.

  “Yes,” it was as if a light bulb went off in Dane’s head. “Yes, it does.” He looked at Aly with awe; she had suggested an answer to a problem that had been haunting him for months.

  Dane became distracted as several women converged on him, drawing his attention. By the time he turned back to Aly, she had disappeared. He searched the room, becoming agitated. After being waylaid by conversations, he figured he’d inspected the room at least five times without spotting her, before he noticed a door that lead to the outside patio. Stepping on to the terrace, he found her in conversation with Armand Dupree.

  “It’s lovely,” Aly was saying.

  “Have you heard the story of the Church in the Rocks?” Dupree asked.

  Dane seethed as the rogue’s hand stroked Aly’s bare back. He gained some satisfaction as she expertly maneuvered her body away from the roving hand. He’d been enjoying the silky skin himself earlier, and she hadn’t moved away.

  “Something about two brothers falling in love with the same woman,” Aly recalled. As they gazed at the softly lit church carved into the cliff, Dupree proceeded to tell of the legend.

  “Above the cliff stand the ruins of a castle built centuries ago. Two brothers lived there: Wyrich and Emich. Unbeknownst to each other, they both loved the beautiful maiden Bertha, a Lady of Castle Lichtenburg (not too far away from Oberstein.) She fell in love with Emich, and when Wyrich was absent from the castle, consented to become his wife. Learning of the engagement upon his return, Wyrich felt betrayed and being quite hot-tempered attacked his brother, throwing him out of a window; the young man plummeted to his death on the rocks some 450 feet below.

  “When he realized what he had done, Wyrich was overcome with remorse and fled the castle, travelling for years seeking his own death in battle, until one day he decided to return home. Bertha had died in the meantime – presumably of a broken heart. At her graveside, Wyrich confessed his horrible deed to the abbot. For a penance, this abbot bade him to build a chapel with his own two hands, on the place where his brother's broken body had been found. Wyrich worked at it like a man possessed, all the time praying that he might find forgiveness.

  “When this labor was completed, it was taken as a sign that his penance was complete and his sin forgiven, as a spring opened up within the chapel (a spring which remains active today.)

  “Wyrich died at the steps of the altar as the chapel was being consecrated. He was buried in the same tomb that he had hewn out of the hard rock for Emich – the two brothers reunited in death.”

  “That’s so sad,” Aly said, her eyes moist with emotion. Dupree took both of her hands in his as he turned to face her.

  “Why is such a beautiful, intelligent, and caring woman, with Dane Wellesley?” he pondered. “It is common knowledge that he cannot return a lady’s affections. You deserve so much better. Leave him and come with me to the south of France.”

  With the plethora of emotions Aly had run him through this evening, Dane was now seeing red!

  »ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«

  Lexi was about to put the Frenchman straight about his unwarranted remarks, when Dane came storming up to them.

  “I will ask you only once,” he growled, “to stay away from my fiancée!” With a face full of rage, he grabbed Lexi’s hand and dragged her back into the reception hall.

  “We’re leaving,” he said, digging out his cell phone.

  While informing the driver of their departure, Dane continued to pull her through the crowded hall to the exit. People stopped their conversations to stand paralyzed, gawking at them. It was clear that they had never seen Dane Wellesley behave in such a manner. Lexi had the presence of mind to stay quiet until they were in the limo and on their way home. She then turned to confront him.

  “Fiancée?”

  “We will speak when we get home,” Dane said.

  “I cannot believe you made such a scene…”

  “I said – when we get home!”

  Lexi leaned against the door of the car, widening the space between them. She crossed her arms and huffed. Was he crazy, acting like that in front of their peers? You just don’t go off in an emotional tangent; it could greatly affect ones reliability as a businessman! She had been to plenty of these gala events; they were all about being seen and putting your best foot forward. What you wear, what you say, and what you do is all recognized as the face of your business.

  Back at Oma’s house, Dane led Lexi into his grandfather’s office and firmly closed the door.

  “You belong to me,” he said. “You agreed to become my wife if necessary, and for the duration you belong to me – understand?” The old Lexi with her red-headed temper, resurfaced.

  “I understand, Master!” she countered insolently. “But you have no right to blame me for whatever it is that got stuck up your crawl, tonight. I behaved admirably!”

  “Oh, right, you showed great decorum by sneaking out to be alone with that French gigolo!”

  “I grew tired of waiting for you to untangle yourself from the female leaches you were decorously playing kissy-feely with, and went out to the terrace for some fresh air – alone. Armand introduced himself after he came out, presumably for the same reason as myself. Had I been aware that you would think it more decorous, I would have shoved him over the railing rather than hold polite conversation with him!”

  Dane grabbed Lexi’s shoulders and locked his lips onto hers. Startled, she gasped, froze, and then heated up as his tongue caressed and tasted her lips, before g
aining entrance into her mouth. Never having been kissed like this before, she was naive as to what to do. He pulled her in closer, fitting their bodies intimately together like two puzzle pieces. His hands stroked her bare back. Lexi became enveloped in a multitude of unfamiliar body sensations, vying to be sated. Hesitant at first, she answered his kiss, responding instinctively.

  With a groan Dane pulled back, allowing Lexi’s gown to fall to her hips. Before she could ponder how he had managed to unclasped the garment, his tongue trailed down her neck to her collar bone, sending shivers through her body. His hand took possession of one of her breasts as his tongue made its way to the other. Lexi’s legs weakened and turned into jelly, a strange combination of a sigh, a moan and a purr emitted from deep in her throat. The sound brought out a responding growl from Dane, as his touch grew possessive. He took a step back, hands still teasing her breasts. His eyes locked onto hers.

  “You belong to me,” Dane declared again.

  Greedily, his eyes roamed her body. His fingers slid down to her hips and beneath the gown still clinging to them. With little resistance he aided the dress on its journey to the floor. Lexi watched his eyes devour her scantily clad body, and froze. Dane’s face brought back memories of Bert and his chum’s salivating lust, as she withstood Cass’s inspection. Dane owns me, she reminded herself. I am simply a possession to him. It was as effective as acid in dissolving the growing emotions inside of her.

  As if sensing the change, Dane drew her against his body and again placed his lips on hers. He became more insistent when she didn’t respond. Lexi stood stiff in his arms, an invisible iron-clad armor separating her from the rest of the world. He pulled away from her, angry. His eyes fired lethal darts into hers, but with no effect. Lexi felt nothing. She was empty again. He turned and left the room.

  »ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«

  Dane Wellesley was losing his mind.

  After an ineffective cold shower and hours of pacing the floor, the only release he could think of was work. He called the Frankfurt office and left a message informing them of his imminent return, realizing that he would probably be at his desk before anyone heard it. He would have rung up Keith, but his lawyer was in the States working out a legal matter that had popped up at the New York office.

  Waking Bruna, he asked her to convey his apologies to Oma for leaving so abruptly, but something important had come up at the office. He would be in touch. They both knew that he was avoiding an inevitable interrogation from his grandmother. A self-deprecating smile appeared across his face at the thought of the satisfaction Oma would receive if she knew how torturous the drive to Frankfurt had been for him.

  No matter what Dane put his thoughts to, they always came back to Aly – and more accurately, the semi-nude Aly. Admittedly, he had seen more than his share of beautiful women without their clothes, but none like her. Her skin – her breasts, were the color of porcelain without a blemish or freckle. The areolae at the peaks of her perfect sized mounds were the palest pigment of pink. Dane shook his head, he must be remembering wrong. Oh, how he longed for another look.

  Aly was smart, even before the evening had gotten underway people had begun asking for her opinion. The first thing he intended to do when he got to the office was to follow up on her suggestion for using self-healing polymers. Perhaps Keith could speak with some of the scientists experimenting with it, since he was already in the neighborhood, so to speak.

  Dane had enjoyed his evening with her. She’d even held normal conversations with him, in full sentences! He laughed out loud. And her temper! Her argument had had him at a loss for words, the way she’d thrown his word back at him with two different usages. She stood up to him and she was funny. How was he supposed to react? He could either laugh, or kiss her – either way would have ended with him kissing her.

  But, what is it that haunts Aly and turns her into an exasperating ice queen? His mistrust of women convinces him that she’s playing a con on him and it’s all an act to leave him begging at her feet. But, the deepest part of Dane, the part that he hadn’t visited for a very long time, agreed with Oma and insisted that she’s an innocent – broken. That’s the Aly that pulls at the deep recesses of his being. The Aly that bleeds into his stone heart.

  No!

  Dane had vowed to himself that he would never let a woman have such a power over him – never!

  “I’m taking the next flight out. I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into you, but I’ve been fielding calls on a daily basis from the Frankfurt staff.”

  “There’s no need, Keith,” Dane assured his friend. “You’re needed in New York.”

  “No, we’ve ironed out the problem and come to an agreement,” his lawyer said. “The attorneys here can finish up the minor logistics and paperwork. At the rate you’ve been biting off heads over there, I may be the only staff you have left. Brenda’s been hearing about your temper at the London office, as well. She’s worried about you, Dane; she’d come herself, but she has a sick kid at home.”

  Brenda Gale had been Dane’s assistant and right arm for almost a decade, before he moved to Frankfurt. The London branch of Brighton Industries had been assigned to him when he’d graduated from University. Being a Brit, Dane’s grandfather had started his company in London and had brought his German bride to live with him there. Brighton Industries had since grown into a worldwide corporation, with offices in the U.S., Hong Kong, and of course Germany (German engineering is well known for its quality.) Dane had grown up in the UK, went to school there and spent summers at his grandmother’s home in Oberstein. Henry Brighton was happy to hand the reins over to his grandson and move to the Frankfurt office, bringing his homesick wife back to her roots. When his widowed grandmother became ill, Dane turned the London office over to Brenda and followed his grandfather’s footsteps to Frankfurt. Brenda knew Dane almost as well as Oma, and was much like an older sister to him.

  “Do as you wish,” he told Keith. “I’ll give Bren a call and put her mind at ease. I want to talk to her about the Fairfield Project, anyway.”

  No sooner had he hung up the phone, when he received a call from Bruna. Oma had fallen and injured her hip. She was on her way to the hospital.

  Dane sped down the highway anxious to get to his grandmother’s side. Not that he felt guilty for not visiting the estate in over a week – he had called her every day. It was simply easier to run the business out of the office where he could work hands-on with his employees. You can’t run a corporation over the telephone; surely she understood that. What made him uneasy was how he had cut Oma off whenever she mentioned Aly, and she mentioned her on every call. Dane always changed the subject or invented a pressing matter which would put an abrupt end to the call. Yeah, that definitely made him uncomfortable about coming face to face with his grandmother.

  As far as seeing Aly again, well time and distance had put things into perspective for him. He was an adult male; he can certainly keep his carnal urges under control. She was his employee and he knew from experience the ramifications of crossing that line. Of course she had signed an agreement, so if the assignment led to marriage he would have every right to insist she fulfill her contractual obligations. A business deal, nothing more.

  The whole fiancée fiasco had been another bane to contend with. Indeed, pictures of him pulling Aly by the hand out of the crowded reception hall had made their way onto the internet, with the caption, “Jealous fiancé!” He had only himself to blame. Perhaps his employees wouldn’t have had anything to cry to Keith about, if they hadn’t been gossiping and speculating among themselves about him. It seemed the cat was out of the bag now, and he would soon be forced to make a public announcement. First though, he needed to discuss his engagement with Oma and of course, the woman in question.

  By the time Dane pulled into the hospital parking lot he’d spoken several more times with Bruna. The doctors had x-rayed Oma’s injured hip and leg, finding nothing broken. She had been banged up pretty bad, though, and they wer
e keeping her overnight to make sure her vitals remained stable. Bruna avoided his questions about how Oma had injured herself. Although bedridden, he was aware that Oma did not stay in bed, using a wheelchair to move about her rooms. He took the elevator to her floor and strode down the corridor past the waiting lounge. As he approached her open door he became privy to a private conversation.

  “Now would be the ideal opportunity to fess up to Dane, Oma.” Aly’s tone was one used to chastise an errant child. “He worries about you, and besides, he’s sure to have questions about your tumble.”

  “But, what if he takes his anger out on you and sends you away? He does have a temper.”

  “Then so be it, I suppose.”

  “But his heart…”

  “Is his to protect the best way he knows.”

  “I love you, ein bisschen.”

  “I love you too, Oma. But, I think he should know that you were faking your illness. Deception will always come back to bite you on the tush.”

  Dane heard Oma chuckle. He cleared his throat to warn them of his presence as he stepped through the door. Aly kissed Oma’s cheek and hastened to exit the room.

  “I’ll just leave you to your privacy,” she said, flashing him a smile without making eye contact. He grabbed her arm to halt her escape.

  “Is that any way to greet your fiancé?” he asked.

  “Oh, I just thought you would be anxious to…”

  Dane pulled her into a kiss. Her scent wafted over him, igniting his senses. Damn! He released her and she scurried out of the room.

  His attention turned to the sweet gray-headed geriatric with the innocent, knowing smile on her face. Leaning over to plant a kiss on her soft cheek, he noticed how frail she looked in the hospital bed.

  “Okay, Oma,” he said, opening his arms wide in surrender. “Have at it.”

  “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re implying, with all of your theatrics,” she replied, haughtily. “If you’re referring to the conversation you overheard, I really think you should refrain yourself from eavesdropping. It has really gotten out of hand, lately.” Dane narrowed his eyes, menacingly.