The Drake Unwound Complete Collection Book 9 (12 page)

"At least he has a good father."

She glanced up at me. "I hope so. He was rather rude to me."

I frowned, anger welling up in me. "What do you mean?"

"He made comments that were suggestive. About you and about me."

I shook my head in disgust, wanting to go back up to the ward and give Chris a piece of my mind, but I knew that would be a waste of time. "I can't imagine what Maureen told him about me. Probably thinks I'm Hannibal Lecter."

"He only knows Maureen's side of the story, Drake."

I sighed and released Kate when the elevator reached the lobby and the doors opened. "I was a dick, Kate," I said, taking her hand as we left the elevator and walked through the lobby to the street. "I freely admit that. She had every right to divorce me. I was an absent husband."

"You did as well as you knew how at the time," she said softly, always sensitive and forgiving.

"I promise I won't be absent with you," I said and squeezed her hand. "I've learned about myself and about relationships since then. I don't want to be that man anymore."

"You aren't."

I smiled at her, touched by her generosity. "Sweet
sweet
Ms. Bennet," I said and brushed my fingers over her lips. "How lucky I am to have found you."

We embraced once more and went out into a cold Manhattan winter's night.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

We drove down the snowy streets in silence. Kate took my hand and said nothing, as if she was waiting until I felt like talking. At that moment, I decided I didn’t want to go back to my apartment in Chelsea. Instead, I wanted to go to 8
^th
Avenue. My apartment in Chelsea was pre-Kate. It was sterile. It was nothing like the man I wanted to be.

"You want to go to 8
^th
Avenue?" Kate said beside me when she noticed our route.

I nodded but didn't say anything for a moment, trying to sort through my emotions.

"I think of 8
^th
Avenue as
our
place," I said finally. "My apartment is
me
as I was before you. I'm different now. Frankly, I'd like to sell it and for us to move into 8
^th
Avenue or get our own place when we come back from Africa."

"Will you still be able to go? I mean, with the transplant…"

I shook my head. "I'll contact the head of the Neurosurgery program and let him know what's up. I may not be a match, but if I am, the procedures will take about four weeks. I'll have to cancel my slate, have someone else do my surgeries, but we can still go once I know Liam's OK, if I
am
a match. I wouldn’t start teaching until March anyway." I pulled into a park and lock parking garage and found a spot. When I got out, I opened the door for Kate and took her arm and we walked down the stairs to the ground level.

"I hope to hell that I'm a match. He's so young and frail and this cancer is very aggressive."

"You'll have to stay for a while, see how he does."

I nodded. "I hope you don't mind. We just may have time to get your malaria meds all up to date before we go."

"Of
course
I don't mind." We entered the street, arm in arm, and we walked the block and a half to the building. "What's involved in the transplant?"

I opened the front entry door, holding it as Kate went through. "Testing to see if my HLA is a match for Liam's, and if I'm a match, they'll have two options. They can give me a drug called Filgrastim to increase my blood stem cells and harvest them from my blood using a machine that separates white from red blood cells, or they can go into my marrow surgically and take it out."

"Is it painful?"

"Filgrastim makes you really achy and tired for a few days before the donation because your marrow is producing more stem cells than normal. There's a recovery time after they harvest your cells. A week or so. Taking marrow directly out of the bone causes discomfort, but it's bearable with painkillers."

"How do they decide?" she asked as we climbed the stairs to the apartment.

"That's up to the oncologist but it's easier to do the peripheral collection."

Kate nodded, but said nothing more. I unlocked the door and we entered.

"How do they do the procedure?"

I took her coat and hung it in the closet while she shucked off her boots. "They'll have me lie on a bed, cover me with warm blankets. They take blood out of one arm, run it through a machine that separates out the stem cells, and reinfuse it in the other arm."

"Is there any risk?"

I shook my head. "Not really. They're very skilled at this and have been doing it now for years successfully. It's amazing and has saved so many lives." I went to the kitchen, where I kept a bottle of Anisovaya. Yelena Kuznetsova's shot glasses were at Ethan’s apartment, so instead, I sorted through the glasses in the kitchen cupboard and brought out two mismatched juice glasses.

"These will have to do," I said and poured two shots of vodka for us. I passed one to Kate and held up my own. "
Za vas
," I said, unable to muster much enthusiasm.

"
Za vas
," Kate replied, and I could tell she was forcing a smile, trying to get me out of my bad mood. The only thing that could do that was to lose myself in her body and so I took her glass put them both on the side table.

I pulled her into my arms. "What a night," I said, thinking back at how I felt when I first learned I had a son and that he was very sick, perhaps dying. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

Kate squeezed me tightly. "You've had a shock. Shock after shock. To learn you have a son, and that he has leukemia, and that you might be a match for a bone marrow transplant… It's a lot to take in at once."

I nodded, my hand stroking her hair. I knew what I needed. I needed to wash away the pain and shock and sadness. I kissed the top of her head. "I need you," I said softly. "I need to get lost in you."

She looked up in my eyes, her expression so warm and accepting.

"I'm yours," she said, her voice choking up a bit. "Whatever you want. Whatever you need."

I kissed her, amazed that I found her, that she was actually mine. I kissed her softly at first, but soon, I felt as if I couldn’t get enough of her, that I wanted to devour her, my hands stroking down her back to her ass, squeezing it with both hands.

"I need you naked,
now
," I said and began stripping away her clothes, impatient to see her naked before me.

"So
beautiful
…" I said, admiring her clear skin and heavy breasts, her tiny waist and curvy hips.

I pulled her to the bedroom, and without any preliminaries, pressed her face down over the edge of the bed, one hand on her shoulder.

"Clasp your hands together," I said. "Spread your legs farther apart."

She complied without a word or hesitation, her hands sliding up so they were above her on the bed. I unfastened my belt, unzipped my pants and shoved my cock deep inside of her. She gasped as I filled her up.

I fucked her.
Hard
.

Fast.

I gripped her hip with one hand and with the other, I twisted her hair into my fist, holding her down.

Like a rutting stag, I said nothing, just thrust hard and fast, my body ramming into her, my pace increasing, my heart racing.

Kate did and said nothing. She let me do as I wanted, what I needed. I thrust blindly and without concern for Kate’s needs. I leaned over her and bit down on her shoulder, kissing the spot afterwards, my mouth next to her ear.

"I'm just going to
fuck
you," I said, my voice harsh. "I'm just going to
fuck
you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she whispered.

My orgasm started, my balls tightening, a sweetness spreading out from them as I began to ejaculate.

"Oh,
fuck
, Oh,
fuck
…"

I collapsed on top of her when I was finished, my cock still deep inside of her. Finally, I rose up and pulled out of her slowly, careful not to miss watching my semen seep out of her.

I left her on the bed and went to the bathroom to get a wet washcloth so I could clean her off. When I returned, I stroked it over her gently. When I was finished, I lay on my back beside her on the bed, and watched her.

"Thank you."

She smiled and reached out to touch my cheek. "Thank
you
."

I nodded, knowing that we both got what we needed. I rolled over and threw my arm and leg over her body, pulling her closer.

"I like that I can fuck you with no preliminaries. That you want me to when I need you that badly. It makes me happy."

She smiled without responding. I knew it made her happy, too.

"I'm exhausted," I said, pulling away, rising from the bed to undress.

After we both brushed our teeth, we crawled into bed and I pulled her into my arms, thankful that I had her with me, that she was mine. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been alone, if I had no one who I loved or who loved me when I heard the news about my son.

My son…

I lay awake with thoughts of my frail son lying on the hospital bed, IVs threading into his arm, his skin pale, and his face gaunt. I knew that he was in for the fight of his life. A battle for survival.

I was determined to do whatever I could to help him win.

END OF PART 1

Drake Unwound 2

S. E. LUND

Copyright 2015 by S. E. LUND

DEDICATION

Dedicated to Suzanne, my first editor and the first writer to consider my writing seriously and offer an honest constructive critique. Without your critical eye and supportive words, I would never have seen both the potential in my work and where it needed improvement. You gave me the courage to continue writing despite difficulties in the early years. You will be missed.

R. I. P.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to my family and friends who supported me during the long hours when I would lock myself into my office with my computer jammed in my face, writing. Without your tolerance, my books would never have been written or finished, but my house would have been a lot cleaner! Thanks as well to my editor Michelle Saunders who makes my books better! Any remaining errors are mine alone.

You can sign up for S. E. Lund’s mailing list here and receive a free story,
The Gift
, featuring Kate and Drake’s first Christmas:
http://eepurl.com/1Wcz5