Unfriending the Dr by Piper Sullivan

Ryan

Istared down at Persephone’s blissed-out expression, her full kiss-swollen lips pulled into a wide smile, skin flushed and damp from exertion. My smile widened in response. “Wow, that was terrible?”

A laugh burst from her and she smacked my arm—at least, she meant to, but it was more like a caress. “Fishing for compliments, Ryan?”

Hell yes, I was. “If you want to heap some praise onto me, I won’t say no. But it’s not necessary.”

Her violet eyes rolled in that signature way. “Because you’re so certain you hit it out of the park?”

A deep, rumbling laugh exploded out of me and I pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Yes, but no. The way you’re still pulsing around me, clenching me tight, tells me this time was even better than the first time.”

And because I could, because she was at my mercy, I leaned in and kissed one shoulder and then the other. Her collarbone up to her throat until Persephone arched into me with a moan.

“Way better.”

Another moan sounded and she curled one leg around my hip, body still pulsing around me.

“Way better,” she said on a gasp as I separated our bodies and fell beside Persephone, pulling her body flush against mine. “It was unbelievably good.”

I wanted laugh, but having Persephone in my arms, naked and loose like this, felt like no laughing matter. “You sure it wasn’t just second-time luck? Because I’m more than happy to prove it a third time.”

“Don’t you mean a fourth time?” Amusement rang in her voice and my cock twitched between us. “You’re ready to go again? What are you, a teenager?” Persephone wiggled her hips, pressing the flesh of her ass right up against my erection.

I nuzzled her neck until she shivered. “When it comes to you, I think I’m always ready.”

A throaty laugh exploded from Persephone, shaking her whole body and mine along with it. “Yeah?” She wriggled against me again, the little tease.

“Oh yeah.” My hips surged forward, sending my cock sliding through the little gap in her thighs, and a low growl sounded.

“Then let’s test that theory.” With a mischievous smile, Persephone fixed her lips to mine, kissing me like we had been lovers for a lifetime instead of just a few hours.

Her lips and tongue worked magic, sending spears of pleasure shooting through my body until I was hot everywhere—and hard everywhere. She pulled back with a smile and licked her way across my top lip, then my bottom lip. She nipped my chin, kissing and licking her way down my throat, across my chest, flicking her tongue across each nipple.

“Persephone.” Her name fell from my lips on a low, guttural moan as she worked her mouth and teeth and tongue all over my body, until I trembled with need. “Yes, babe.”

She looked up with a frown. “How do you have so many muscles when you lay under cars all day?”

I looked down at her, mouth just a few inches from my abs, and laughed. “Working on cars is hard work. Lifting heavy engines builds big muscles. Climbing under cars makes me flexible. Nimble.” I wiggled my eyebrows and she laughed.

“You’ve got the big muscles thing in spades.”

I watched closely as one of her delicate, healing hands wrapped around my cock and squeezed. Her eyes were full of fascination as she gripped me tighter, tugging and noticing every reaction her moves caused. A bead of arousal appeared and she licked it off, causing my hips to surge forward.

“Oh wow.” She flicked her tongue over the slit again and again, pulling growl after groan from me. Every move she made caused a reaction, and each reaction only seemed to spur her on.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her as lush lips wrapped around my cock and sucked with the wild, reckless abandon of a woman fueled by desire. Her violet eyes burned dark, almost amethyst, as they collided with mine, tempting and teasing the whole time she sucked me off. “Persephone.”

“Mmm?”

My hips bucked forward and she moaned again, having too much fun as she brought me moment after moment of pleasure. “Babe.”

In response to that one word, she took me deeper, so deep, until I hit the deepest point I could and the dam broke. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed down on me until I thought I might drown in it, and Persephone was like a goddess, pleasing me until she sucked me bone dry.

She pulled back and smacked her lips. “The taste of us together is pretty incredible.” Her words came out breathless, her cheeks flushed pink, a satisfied expression on her face.

“Persephone,” I growled and my cock twitched in her hands. “You’re driving me out of my mind.”

Almost instantly, she climbed up my body and sank down onto my cock, taking me deeper and deeper until I was hard again, thrusting up with every stroke. I don’t know how I managed to stay hard, but it had a lot to do with seeing her beautiful tits bouncing as she took her pleasure from me. She took what she wanted like a wild woman, and soon she pulsed and clenched around me.

“Ryan, oh god! Yes!” Even as her orgasm subsided, her hips continued to roll as if she wasn’t ready for the pleasure to end.

Neither was I. “You are absolutely stunning when you come.”

She smiled and collapsed on top of me. “Stunning, huh? Must be the blow job talking.”

“You’re always stunning, but like this, I can’t look away.” She laughed and the sound reverberated between us. “But the blow job didn’t hurt. Anytime you need a compliment, I’m all right with you doing that.”

Persephone rolled her eyes and rolled off me with a breathy moan. “Color me surprised.” She fell onto her back, chest still heaving with the effort to get air into her lungs. The sound of her growling stomach broke through the haze of lust that had settled around us.

“Hungry?”

She nodded. “Oh yeah, and we have a treat. Ready to refuel?”

“Hell yes.” I grabbed my boxers while Persephone reached for my undershirt and slipped it over her head. “What’s on the menu?”

“Lasagna.”

I followed the swing of her hips down the stairs and into the kitchen, barely aware of anything until she pulled the bright blue dish from the oven. “That’s not just your basic frozen lasagna.”

Persephone turned to me with an arched brow. “Who said it was? Seduction requires a lot more than frozen lasagna, Ryan.”

I shrugged. “You could have answered the door naked and it would’ve been fine by me. But damn, that smells amazing, so thanks for the effort.”

We moved around the kitchen like we always did, a lifelong partnership in a well-choreographed dance we’d performed hundreds, maybe thousands of times over the years. Minutes later, we were seated at the table with two big-ass servings of short-rib lasagna in front of us.

Her head fell forward and a downright erotic moan escaped. “That’s delicious.”

I nodded my agreement, too hungry to use words while I shoveled the lasagna into my mouth by the forkful. Less than five minutes later, I added another square to my plate. “Perfect reward for a job well done.”

Persephone’s laugh was loud and surprised, and I felt my chest puff up a little at the sound. She pushed her empty plate away and rested her chin in her hands, in what I liked to call her deep-thinking pose.

Suddenly the short ribs felt dry, the lasagna tasteless, as I waited for her to tell me that this was a mistake, that as fantastic and pleasurable as it had been, it could not happen again. That she was far too sophisticated for a mechanic and we would be better off as friends.

The wait was unbearable, and I shoveled a mountain of lasagna in my mouth and spoke around it. “Just say it, woman.”

“This was fun.”

I nodded my agreement because it was a hell of a lot more than fun. It was miles past fun.

“And I think that we should—” She sighed and shook her head. “I think it would be nice if we could keep doing this.” She motioned between the two of us.

Her words shocked the hell out of me. “You do?”

She nodded and flicked her hair from her shoulders. “I do. The sex is great, and we go together so well, almost as if we have been doing this our whole lives. We trust each other and we already care about each other.” The look in her eyes was uncertain, but my best friend didn’t back down from a challenge, even when it terrified her. “We both get what we need, when we need it, without the hassle of dating.”

And just like that, the balloon popped. She was proposing nothing but a sexual relationship, which I wasn’t opposed to on principle. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted more.

“Well, don’t just sit there and stare me, Ryan. Tell me what you think.”

I let out a sigh as Oliver’s words banged around in my head. I didn’t want to think about Persephone moving on with another man, at least not without giving us a chance. A real chance. The old timer was right, it was high time I grabbed life by the balls and made it mine to command.

“I’m not opposed to the idea, but I have a condition of my own.”

Her shoulders relaxed when she realized I wasn’t rejecting her offer. As if I could. “Of course, you do.” She nodded again, gaze bouncing around the kitchen, fingers fidgeting with the neckline of my too-big T-shirt. “I’m listening.”

“Good.” I sat up taller and looked at her until her eyes connected with mine. “I want you to give us—give me—a chance. A real chance, while we spend naked time together.” There. I said it. My deepest want had finally been voiced and now the rest was up to Persephone.

She swallowed hard, a look of pure terror on her face. “A chance at what?”

“Ouch.” I rubbed at the real physical ache in my chest at her question. “To make you mine.” Her answering expression gave me no hope. “Unless, of course, you are absolutely sure that you do not and could not ever want that with me.”

“It’s not that, Ryan.” She sighed and her whole body fell, as if I’d just ruined her plans. “Why ruin this great thing we have with romance? It messes everything up.”

“Does it?”

She nodded. “You know it does. Ferguson. Amy. Tyson. Briana. Davis. Sherillyn. None of them worked out.”

“But what if Ryan and Persephone do work out? Have you even considered that, or are you that sure we’re doomed?”

I knew her relationship history and I’d known none of them would work out. Well, I had been scared about Ferguson until he, in an act of pure insanity, chose Canada over the wonderful woman current chewing her bottom lip to pieces in front of me.

“You’re sure you want this?”

I nodded. “I am. I want you, Persephone, all of you. I have for a long time, and that’s how I know that just having sex with you won’t make it go away. So,” I sighed, heart in my hands, “I’m asking you to consider me as an option for a boyfriend. A future husband. A father. All of it.”

I shook my head. Her expression was so blank, it all felt hopeless.

“I know I’m just a mechanic, but I think we could have a good life together. A full life.”

“You’re not just a mechanic,” she growled at me, gaze narrowed to slits. “You are a world-class automotive restorer and an all-around great human being. Don’t talk shit about my best friend.”

I smiled even as confusion tightened into a knot in my gut. “Then why won’t you consider me?”

“Because, Ryan. I don’t want to lose you forever when this doesn’t work out between us.”

“You won’t,” I promised. “If for some strange reason it doesn’t work out, I promise you won’t lose me. Neither will Titus.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“I damn well can and I’m promising you exactly that, right now. Sure, it might be awkward for a few weeks or months, but we always find our way back to each other. Besides, I think we’ll be so awesome together that it won’t be an issue. Ever.”

“You do?” There was a world of hope contained in those two words, and that was all I needed to hear.

“Hell yes, I do. You’re my best friend, my favorite person in the world, and now I get to wine and dine you. And sixty-nine you. What could be better?”

She let out a shaky breath but her wariness had turned to excitement. “I’m scared as hell about this, Ryan, but I’m trusting you to keep your word that I won’t lose you. So, I’m saying yes. To dates and to sex.”

“Should we consider tonight our first date?”

She laughed. “I don’t cook on the first date.”

I let out a loud bark of laughter. “Good, because you did not cook this lasagna. The fancy ingredients have Antonio written all over it.”

Persephone pouted. “If you really wanted to date me, you would have pretended to think I cooked for you.”

I laughed again. “But I’m also your best friend and I know you, and can’t lie to you.”

“This is going to be strange. Truly weird,” she said with a laugh and finally plated another serving of lasagna.

“Totally, but in the best possible way.”

Her relieved smile filled me with hope for the future and I vowed, then and there, to do everything I could to make her love me.