The Drake Unwound Complete Collection Book 9 by S. E. Lund Page A

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