Page 37 of I Hate Myself for Loving You
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.
Epilogue
And so ends the saga of a family called Adams. Unique in their diversity, strong in their love of one another.
But before I type the end, here’s a quick update on the Adams clan.
JC and Max had their baby boy on a fine spring day, crisp and cloudless with Max’s mother, Faith, acting as midwife.
JC could be heard throughout the Adams household, thanking deities for the end of the pregnancy that lasted a fricken’ millennium. “Finally,” she’d retorted, “a good hair day is within my realm of possibility.”
Max and JC named their son Max junior, though JC lovingly teased that Voldermutt might suit him just fine. As yet, Max junior’s shifter form, if any at all, has not been determined. Only time will tell what he, Quinn, and little Catalina will grow up to be.
