Page 16 of I Hate Myself For Loving You (Wolf Mates #7)

Chapter Twelve

A very smiled while watching Lassiter and his twin, Drake, plant trees.

What a difference two months could make.

Eva had made the chicken soup that restored Drake to his human form and he was, indeed, Lassiter’s double. They were identical in almost every way.

Except the way that made Avery’s loins scream and her knees weak.

Only Lassiter did that to her.

He had an easier personality than Lassiter, though, in her estimation, he should be the one who was bitter. He’d adjusted well to life on the Adams’ farm and strove to adjust to the conformities legs and arms brought with it.

Lassiter had a much lighter attitude nowadays. He smiled more often and he and Avery had spent a great deal of time talking again.

Like they’d once done.

Sometimes they laughed. Sometimes they sat quietly, but no matter what they did, they were never far from one another.

Avery knew she was in love with Lassiter. What once had been an idol-like, schoolgirl crush had turned into love. The kind of love a woman feels when she knows it’s the real thing.

She’d learned to temper her impatience and impulsivity with that knowledge.

Lassiter was hers and there was no way she’d let him forget it.

Gently, of course…

She could wait until he was ready to admit he felt the same.

And he would.

All in good time.

Drake’s transformation, the lift of the spell that had kept him locked in the body of a bird, had happened with little fanfare.

Oddly, Avery thought it would be much bigger than it’d turned out to be.

But she would never forget the gratitude on Lassiter’s face.

She would never forget the wonder of seeing Lassiter finally meet his brother.

She’d left them alone, quietly slipping out to allow them the privacy they needed to get to know one another man to man. Brother to brother.

Lassiter came to find her the next day, and since then the dynamic of their relationship had changed drastically.

Planting trees was all in an effort to not only reimburse the Adams, but to show Avery that Lassiter’s intentions had never been to hurt anyone or anything in his quest.

The Adamses had welcomed him with their usual acceptance, with open arms and questions galore. Lassiter, usually a loner, had opened up in time, eventually allowing himself to come to terms with his unusual heritage and accept the warmth only the Adams family knew how to offer.

He’d signed the land back over to Max one morning over scrambled eggs, and Max had shown his gratitude by giving Lassiter twelve acres to do with as he pleased.

Lassiter planned to build a home there. A home that had a path back to his family right at his doorstep.

The Adams family.

Indeed, the Adamses had come full circle.

“Hey, Princess,” Lassiter called, coming up behind her and scooping her up, rousing her from her thoughts.

Avery chuckled at the nickname he’d kept from her dog days. “You’re all dirty!” she yelped at him. “Cut it out and put me down, vampire.”

“Then I think some washing up is required, huh? What say we go do that?” Lassiter teased in her ear.

Avery snickered. “You know, you’re insatiable, right? Didn’t we just nail each other this morning? Honestly, Lassiter, we have to spend some time out of the bedroom or we’ll start producing, like Hector’s bunnies.”

“Well, I don’t think I’d mind a bunny or two if they looked like you,” he said against her ear, holding her closer.

Avery’s heart lurched. She knew what Lassiter was saying in as few words as possible. It wouldn’t be long before Lassiter made the final leap.

She’d hold the hurdle steady when he finally jumped over it.

“Oh, really. Tell me, what do you suppose we’d procreate? Vampires? Werewolves? Werevamps, Vampwolves?” she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck, allowing him to hurry her off to his trailer.

Looking down at her, his smile was warm, filled with a promise he didn’t know how to express. “I dunno, Princess, but I’d like to find out.”

Avery snuggled against his hard body.

Yes, Lassiter was saying exactly what she wanted to hear.

He was telling her it was time.

Avery mentally held the hurdle steady.

Because Lassiter had just jumped.