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She swore off office romances for good–until she meets the genius monster alien boss that would move planets to capture her heart.

BONUS CHAPTER

NAZYN

“I don’t understand,” Nazyn said, still using the tissue to dab underneath his nose, while Darcy’s face had gone absolutely red from laughing so hard.

“It’s–” She managed to get out between giggles. Then she began laughing again, holding onto her stomach and spinning around in her chair. “It’s–universe, my stomach hurts. It’s a normal thing humans say after you sneeze.”

“But you are not a healer,” Nazyn went on, still lost. “How can you /bless me?”

“It’s more of a well wish than me actually blessing you,” Darcy said as she stopped spinning and wiped the tears from her eyes. The image still puzzled Nazyn, though he understood there were happy tears and sad tears. Darcy was smiling, so she was happy. “What do Deruzians say when you sneeze?”

“We ignore it.” Nazyn threw the offending tissue in the trashcan right beside his desk and listened with glee as it got disintegrated by the lasers hidden inside the plastic box. “It’s a rare occurrence, anyway. Deruzians only sneeze when they’re very ill. Which I am not.”

He did a quick mental scan of his vital organs and signs. The small hairs inside his nose were still bristled and his throat hurt from the force of the sneeze, but there wasn’t anything amiss. His tongue felt a bit weird, but nothing he could pinpoint.

“Must’ve been the pepper in the take out.” Darcy nodded at the half-filled carton boxes on his desk. The meal had not been all that great. “They really overdid it this time. We really need to find a new place to order from.”

Nazyn wholeheartedly agreed.

He and Darcy had been spending many long nights in the lab, trying to get the complex installation working for Kiara’s party. Darcy was adamant they do it “just right, Kiara’s really sweet”. And since they’d sorted out the whole hologram-wireless problem, they could afford the time between their other projects.

And all that extra work meant Nazyn got to spend more time with Darcy. Just him and Darcy lost in gadgets and the wonders of inventing.

She was a marvel to look at when she worked. Her brows pinched when she concentrated and her tongue darted out to lick her lips whenever she had a particularly difficult code to write.

She was amazing. Nazyn caught himself drifting away from his own projects to simply look at her. Even when he was in his office and she worked at her own desk in the lab, feeling her energy brought him a peace he hadn’t known he’d been missing since he’d met her.

Darcy constantly impressed him with her intellect and efficiency.

She’d already finished securing the internal system. They both agreed the lab was the safest place in all of Alien Inc., so that server was safely stored in Nazyn’s office. Richard would have to blow up the entire building to get his hands on it.

“So you say bless you when you sneeze,” Nazyn said slowly. He always loved learning new human customs from her. “What other surprising human customs do I need to be aware of?”

She hummed, her lips pursing. Nazyn wanted to jump over the desk and kiss the breath out of her, but he was too curious to find out what she had in mind. He loved her mind as much as he loved her body.

“You know shooting stars?” she asked.

Nazyn tilted his head to the side. “Stars do not shoot. Unless we’re talking about a supernova and–”

“No, no. When meteors come into Earth’s atmosphere, they light up, and people in the past thought they were falling stars. The custom is to make a wish whenever you see one.”

“So many wishes.”

“Humans love to believe in unseen forces. “We also put candles on cakes on our birthdays and blow them out while making a wish.”

“Fascinating.” Risking starting a fire with food was truly puzzling. But if that’s what humans wanted, he’d make a mental note to do the same for when Darcy’s birthday came. He took great pride in noticing his fated mate’s wants and needs and satisfying them before she voiced them.

He wanted Darcy to be happy and fulfilled and he would do anything for that. “Any other party customs?”

“A ton. We carve pumpkins on Halloween to make it seem like they have faces.”

“Mangling produce, got it.”

Darccy laughed. “We throw confetti in the air sometimes.”

“Litering in the name of fun, good, good.”

“And you also toss the bouquets at–” Darcy gulped. “Well, you know…”

Nazyn frowned. “No, I don’t.”

Darcy’s entire energy shifted. She’d been happy and bubbly only a few seconds ago. Now her eyes were downcast and she was playing with the end of her blue dress, the one that made her legs look amazing.

“Well, it’s a custom at…” She licked her lips and whispered, “weddings.”

Nazyn’s frown deepened.

“Is that a secret tradition?”

“No. You’ll probably see it at Rynar and Alissia’s wedding in a few days.”

That was another surprise Nazyn had never thought he’d get to live. Rynar, one of his closest companions and who humans called a certified bachelor–they did, Nazyn had heard it himself–was getting married. After nobody had known he and Alissia even had a relationship.

Nazyn suspected there was more to the story, but, then again, he’d seen how Rynar looked at Alissia whenever he thought nobody noticed–especially her.

“Then why are you whispering?”

“It’s–” Darcy fidgeted in her seat. “It’s stupid.”

“Nothing about you is or ever was stupid.”

“You’re right. I’m too smart for my own good.” Darcy took a deep breath and met his eyes again. “Richard got super pissy whenever I mentioned anything about weddings. Not that I ever asked him when he would propose or anything. He just had such an aversion to it that he once threw a fit when I bought a white summer dress.”

Nazyn clenched his jaw. How many other things had Richard ruined for Darcy?

If Nazyn hadn’t promised Darcy to not hurt that waste of space–physically; he’d never made any promises about attacking him in other, more subtle ways–Richard would have probably been a missing person by now.

“Did you want to marry him?” Nazyn asked, hearing the edge in his voice.

Darcy shrugged. “At one point, yeah. I loved him and I’ve always dreamed about having my own family.”

A few seconds of silence passed while Nazyn processed all the information.

The subtext in human interactions was so important, he didn’t want to miss anything.

He stood slowly, Darcy watching his every move. He hated that Richard had made her so vigilant, but Nazyn would dedicate his life to make her feel at ease around him. Always.

He would make her feel safe.

He rounded the desk and came to stand in front of her chair. He crouched down, just like he had back in the hotel at the Forum, the weekend that had changed his life.

He took her palms in his, capturing her gaze. “I want to make something very clear.”

Darcy nodded.

“Around me, I want you to express every thought you have. Every feeling. Every question and every discomfort,” he said. “And I will make it my life’s mission to satisfy each of your wants, fated mate of mine. I love you.”

Darcy’s frown vanished as a smile bloomed on her face. “I love you, too. And thank you. I expect the same from you, you know?”

“And you will have nothing less.” He squeezed her palms tighter. “I know there is a special custom when it comes to weddings on Earth and I plan to follow each step. This is not the proposal–”

Darcy sucked in a breath.

“Because I want to make it grand and romantic and everything you have ever wished for.” He’d already been looking for rings, an integral part of said proposal, but Zaryn and Rynar had been right–human rings weren’t as glamorous as their fated mates deserved, they would have to import ones from Deruzia. “But I want you to know, from the bottom of my twin hearts, I want to marry you.”

Darcy was his fated mate. As a Deruzian, Nazyn already considered them as married as two beings could be. But he understood humans had different expectations and he wanted to fulfill each and every single one of them.

“So talk to me about weddings. All day, every day if you wish it so. That might also help give me some ideas,” he went on, totally serious. “And if you want to throw your bouquet at someone, I wholeheartedly support that, even if it leads to a brawl. I will protect you.”

Darcy burst out laughing, taking his palms from his and placing them on his cheeks. “There is no brawl at a wedding–well, not a normal one–and you don’t throw the bouquet at someone. But that was so cute, I think my heart’s going to burst.”

“We don’t want that, we have a lifetime to spend together.”

“We do.” Darcy’s smile took his breath away. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being you. For being perfect for me. For making me feel perfect for you.”

“Always, my beloved,” he said before capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

He needed to hurry up and find the perfect ring, because he wanted Darcy to be his, in human and Deruzian terms.

And then…they could would start their family.

Together.

Forever.