Welded: MM Mpreg Romance (Industrial Alphas Book 1) Read online

  “Seat belt, please. It’s not too far from here.”

  I nodded and hugged the passenger door, hoping it would help me be safe.

  “What’s your name?” he asked about ten minutes into the drive. He smelled like metal and fire, and the potent scent tickled my nose.

  “Miles. What about you?”

  “Alois. Nice to meet you.”

  I looked out the window and took in the scenery. Kent hadn’t let me out of the house much, so the quaint town stores and lights made me smile.

  “You must be hungry. I’m starved. Want something to eat?”

  I shook my head but my stomach spoke up with a growl. “I guess I am.”

  He went through a drive-thru and ordered six double cheeseburgers with tater tots and onion rings. I salivated thinking about how good it would be to have a burger. Kent only allowed me to have vegan burgers that tasted like old spinach.

  To keep me trim, he had said.

  “Well, here we are. It’s not much, but it does the job. Make yourself at home.”

  I stared ahead at the house that sat in between two apartment buildings with a gray picket fence and a rust-red door and, out of nowhere, felt safe for the first time in a long time.

  Chapter Four

  Alois

  My house was not much. I hadn’t been kidding. It was a small place, two bedrooms, faded wood siding I needed to refinish at some point. One bathroom. The apartment buildings flanking it cast shadows that made most plants refuse to grow, but my garden didn’t care. It was a garden of sculptures I created with my torch and tools. A welder’s garden. What would Miles think of it?

  But as I parked in the narrow driveway that was the envy of the apartment dwellers wrestling for spaces in their tiny parking lots and along the street, as I walked around to open the door for Miles, I was just glad to have somewhere to offer him refuge. I still had a hard time believing I’d asked him, a complete stranger, to come home with me. But at the time, it had been as if I had no choice.

  How could I leave him in that cold basement? If I hadn’t taken him, Kent would have eventually found out and had the police haul him away for trespassing.

  I walked up the path to my door—a door I’d also created, iron allowed to gain a patina of oxidation over time. I suppose I could have treated it, but something about the color spoke to my soul.

  “That’s some door,” came a small voice from behind me. “Rusty, like it came from an old castle maybe.”

  I turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open, waving him ahead of me. “Indeed. The smallest castle in the land. But the fridge is stocked, I have a guest room with a comfy bed, and I went to the warehouse store last week, so the front closet holds a full case of toilet paper. I think we could withstand at least a short siege from the apartment dwellers…”

  My weak joke did not have its intended effect.

  “I don’t eat very much,” Miles said. “And I won’t stay long.”

  Why did that not sound good? After all, he was an orphan of the storm. I knew nothing about him at all. For all I knew he could be on the run from the law. For any kind of crime. Still, I rushed to reassure him. “As I said, I am not here much. And my little foray to the big box also contributed to the overfilling of the cupboards and freezer. Someone needs to eat it all. Stay to get your feet under you.”

  He looked around, his eyes glistening. “I don’t know why you’re being so kind, but I hope I can repay you one day for everything. At least I can clean and cook while I’m here?”

  “Oh, that’s not necessary.” But I looked around and winced. A thin layer of dust covered the steel tables and other furnishings I’d either made myself or restored.

  Miles turned from where he was examining the curlicues on the arms of the sofa. His expression was very serious. “I have to do something to earn my keep, or leave. I cannot take advantage of your kindness.” He traced a finger through the dust on the side table and held it up to me. “Please allow me to take care of your beautiful things.” Approaching, he stopped and looked down at the floor. “And you.”

  My heart beat slow and steady, but my breathing kicked up. He thought my things were beautiful? And he wanted to take care of me. I struggled not to read too much into it. Merely to accept his offer at face value. He was a decent human who had fallen on hard times and wanted to earn his keep. Nothing he said indicated any interest on a more personal level. “All right,” I said. “I guess I’ve been a little lax in the housekeeping duties.”

  “It’s not bad, really, just that…”

  But we both knew I was more than lax. I didn’t even remember if I had a mop.

  “No,” I chuckled. “It’s bad. I work a lot. And when I’m not”—I stretched out my arms —“I guess I don’t like sweeping and things.” Hated it, in fact. “I promised my mother I’d hire a housekeeper, but I think she expected someone to come in a few days a week. Maybe we can work something out for you to take that role, do a little housekeeping, cook, laundry for room and board and a small salary?”

  “I couldn’t take money,” he protested.

  “Then I can’t accept any work.”

  A stalemate. The omega tipped his head up and finally met my gaze. His eyes seemed large in his thin face, but his jaw was set with determination. “So be it, then. Consider me yours.”

  If only.

  What? No.

  “Yes, err, let me show you to your room and you can get settled and take a shower. We’ll have to share the bath since I only have one.” I started down the short hallway. “I’ll make us some sandwiches, and you can start your duties tomorrow.”

  My mother was going to be thrilled. She would, however, expect me to keep my hands to myself. Something, as I listened to the shower start and realized he was getting naked, I might find hard to do.

  Chapter Five

  Miles

  After a shower and the best damned turkey sandwich of my life, I was stuffed and slept like a baby. Alois’ home was modest, but what he didn’t know was that, it was more home than I’d ever known.

  My eyes fluttered open the next morning when I heard him walking about, getting ready for work, I assumed. His gesture of kindness in taking me in along with offering me food and shelter meant the world to me.

  Moreover, I felt safe in his care. Not in his care, I mean, I wasn’t his omega or his to care for but, as I’d watched him go down the hallway last night, stripping his shirt off as he did, I wouldn’t have minded being his omega at—all.

  I jumped up and pulled on some shorts and a T-shirt, thinking repaying him would start that very morning with breakfast. After brushing my teeth in a hurry, I rushed to the kitchen and saw him already brewing coffee. Damn it.

  “I was going to do that for you. How do you take it? What do you want for breakfast? I can make anything.”

  He chuckled with his shirt tossed over his shoulder. “If you’d like to. I’m sure you need some rest. Anyway, I usually just stop at the drive-thru for something.”

  Nope. That wasn’t happening on my watch.

  “Do you like omelets?” I asked while opening the fridge to check the contents. I spotted a dozen eggs along with some pepper jack cheese and a half a bell pepper. Perfect.

  “I eat anything, Miles. I feel silly having you cook for me.”

  I scoffed. “Well, I feel silly that you won’t let me cook for you. I’ve taken classes. I went to culinary school and then another set of classes in Paris. You name it, I can cook it.”

  Kent was big on gourmet cuisine. He paid for me to go to culinary school and then when he took us to Paris for a half business/half personal trip, he booked me into pastry and charcuterie classes. After all, why hire a cook for your business parties when you have a perfectly trained omega on the job?

  And Paris wasn’t a vacation for me at all. I got my first tooth knocked out in a hotel overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

  Alois’ eyebrows rose. “Wow. That’s impressive. I’m not hard to please, Miles. Rea
lly. I’m a simple guy.”

  I got out a small pan and sprayed it with butter spray since there was no real butter to be found. I’d have to start a grocery list. He hovered over the newspaper while I cooked. Who reads a real paper anymore?

  I cooked my omelets low and slow so I had time to stick a few pieces of toast into the toaster and cut up a cantaloupe. In less than fifteen minutes, I smiled down at the plate, pleased to present it to the person who had saved me.

  “Here you go. Better than drive-thru.”

  I poured a cup of coffee and looked at him to ask what he wanted in it.

  “Just black,” he said, already watching me. A surge of tingles ran down my spine and gathered in my thighs. I loved his eyes on me.

  With his cup next to his plate, I hesitated to prepare my own breakfast. I gagged at the thought of an omelet, since that, egg whites only, and oatmeal had been my only two choices for breakfast for years.

  “Make whatever you like. But eat something. You’re far too thin.”

  I looked down on myself and denied the tears welling up in my eyes. Over the time with Kent, I’d convinced myself I was slender but never thin enough. He made sure I believed that.

  Fuck it. He didn’t have his chains on me anymore. I might just get fat and happy.

  Then, even if he did find me, he wouldn’t want me anymore.

  I opened the pantry with something mouthwatering on my mind and found it right away. Gods bless Alois. He had buttermilk pancake mix and real maple syrup sitting next to each other on the shelf, calling my name. Usually I did everything from scratch but since this kitchen was far from the Cordon Bleu, I would make do...and like it.

  “I never buy that, but it looked like a good deal. Glad it’s being put to use.”

  Finished with his breakfast, he got up, plate and cup in hand. “I can get that,” I said, reaching for them.

  “My mama would slap me stupid if I let someone else do my dishes. I got two hands for a reason.”

  He washed them up in no time and placed them in the drainer. “I’m off to work. I’ve got Internet here, but it’s spotty. Cable works, but damn it all if I can ever find anything on. Don’t feel like you have to lift a finger, okay? Only if you want to.”

  I nodded, and he walked out, winking at me before he closed the door. When his engine roared to life, I clapped my hands and got down to business, starting with his bedroom. But just outside the door, I paused, stomach growling.

  If there was one thing I could do, it was cook and make a house spotless. After all, those were the things that kept me from getting in trouble. And I would whip through this place, so much smaller than Kent’s, in only a few hours max.

  But first, pancakes.

  I cooked up a stack of four and topped them with a heated banana and warmed peanut butter. As the maple syrup formed tiny waterfalls down the side of the stack, I giggled and did my own little freedom dance.

  I finished it all down to the the last banana slice and went back to work. I walked into Alois’ bedroom and gasped. His scent was so concentrated there, I almost was knocked over by the potency of it.

  I gathered his sheets first and tossed them and his comforter into the washing machine then pulled out the vacuum cleaner.

  At this rate, he would want to keep me around for a while, and that notion didn’t sound all that terrible.

  Chapter Six

  Alois

  When I arrived at the job site, things were already buzzing. Usually, I was one of the first workers there, but usually I ate a greasy breakfast sandwich in the truck on the way and lit my torch with a little heartburn of my own. I hardly even noticed anymore, it had become such a daily thing.

  But I noticed the lack of pain and the warmth of comfortable fullness which replaced the acidy sting. My omega had also managed to slow me down enough to pack a lunch, which I was already looking forward to. The sun beamed down on me through the open walls, the day still cool and comfortable but promising to be warm later. Maybe we could eat out in the courtyard? I’d recently finished the table and chairs there, and it would be nice to dine in the shade this evening. What would Miles make? I tried to think of what I had in the freezer, but it wasn’t much. Maybe he’d like to go shopping after work?

  On task for a couple of hours and about ready for my coffee break...I thought I’d maybe call home. See if the omega would like me to pick him up and take him to the store when I got off. With his culinary background, I suspected

  “Alois!” I jumped at the harsh voice from behind me, and would have burned my fingers if not for the thick gloves. As it was, I wobbled, the crouched position not the best to jump out of. “We had an intruder last night, I hear. Did you notice anything?”

  I switched off the torch and planted my feet, regaining my balance. Tipping my visor up, I faced the boss. “Good morning to you, too. I hope you had a good weekend. Me? Yeah, it was great. I worked on your job the whole time, but it was no trouble.”

  The silence that met my words was as out of character as the fact I’d spoken them. Sure the boss was an asshole, but I tried to avoid unnecessary drama and conflict—both of which Kent thrived upon. I’d watched him chew out workers for the least offenses and fire on the drop of a dime. While I was a good welder, I didn’t kid myself that I was irreplaceable.

  But today? Today I wanted nobody pissing on my Cheerios.

  After a long pause in which I realized the others working in my area had also ceased their tasks and were to all indications holding their breath, I started to feel mild regret at my response.

  Until he responded. With an unintelligible spate of cursing—that was new—and turned on a heel and stomped away. The collective whooshed exhale was followed by a burst of chatter as my fellow workers tried to make sense of what happened. I had no explanation, either. Last time someone mouthed off, he’d not only been fired, the boss had managed to put the word out and the guy had to move to get another job.

  Of course, that could still happen. I was tempted to skip my break and keep working, as if that could make up for my insubordination, but my bladder full of coffee said otherwise. So I set my tools aside, placed my helmet on top of them, and headed down the stairs and to the porta potties in the rear. Emerging, I continued on to one of the food trucks for a coconut water, one of my new favorites and, until today, one of the very few things I gave my body that could be considered healthful.

  I had just taken my first step up the steel staircase when Kent showed up again. “Diaz.”

  Here it came. I’d be fired and unable to find another job and have to move. Just like that other guy...what was his name again? I’d have to give up my little home and tell Miles I had nowhere for him to live... that seemed the worst part.

  “What can I do for you, Kent?” I’d be damned if I let him see I was worried.

  “Come with me.” He turned and headed for the door to the basement, and I followed. “I want to show you where the intruder was. It’s most puzzling.” He held the door open and I stepped inside, more than puzzled that he had not acknowledged my outburst. But if he wasn’t, neither was I. “The job super found some food wrappers and things down here. Now, I suppose it could have been one of the guys sneaking down here to cool off during the heat of the day, but he said he was down here yesterday afternoon before he left, making sure everything was okay, just like he always does, and didn’t see anything. He was the last one to leave, save for you. Now...did you see anyone?” He faced me, his eyes boring into me. “Because you seemed to be just a bit wound up when I asked before. Is there anything you want to tell me?”

  So much for letting it go.

  I shrugged in the dimness. “Sorry, I haven’t had a day off in ten. I might be a little tired. But, no”—because I saw no benefit to anyone in putting my new friend in danger of arrest for trespassing—“I don’t have a thing to tell.” I made a show of looking around me. “Did whoever it was do any damage? Steal anything?” I knew the answer.

  “Not that we can
tell, but you know beyond the possibilities of someone writing on a wall or stealing copper wire, we also have to worry about industrial sabotage.” He moved closer to me and, even though we were, so far as I could tell, alone in the basement, he lowered his voice and spoke close to my ear. “It’s not common knowledge, but one of my other projects, in the city, had serious damage done to it last year. The insurance company had a lot of questions. It wouldn’t be good to have it happen again, would it?”

  His closeness, his warm breath gave me chills and not in a good way. But I refused to let him make me move. “No, sir. It wouldn’t. I think we should all be on our toes and make sure we watch for strangers on the property.” I hesitated. “Maybe consider a night watchman? We’ve all worked hard here, and take a lot of pride in this building.”

  He moved. Closer. “What a good idea. I’ve had my eye on you for some time, Diaz. Maybe we should do a dinner meeting. I’d like to pick your brain, get your thoughts on how to proceed.”

  What. The. Hell.

  I chuckled and slapped him on the arm before turning toward the exit. “You don’t have to flatter me, sir. I know I’m just a welder and you have lots of idea men”—translation: yes men who will kiss your shoes and whatever you were hoping I’d kiss down here—“to help out. That was the only one I had.” Hand on the knob, I gave him a nod. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll get back to my post. My boss is very strict about break times.”

  Only when I was outside with the closed door between us did I allow the shudder I’d been suppressing to run down my body. He was an alpha. I was an alpha. I knew some alphas did turn out to be mates, or have affairs or whatever, but the predatory feel I got from him was not common.

  Or happening.

  I pitied any omega who crossed his path. If he treated an alpha this way, he’d be far worse with omegas.