Mari waited for him to continue, but he went quiet again.
“Hey, talk to me,” she urged.
With a weary exhale, he undid his seatbelt and shifted around to look at her. “It’s just…my mom…she kept this secret, yeah, but at least she was there for me, you know what I mean? She was present in my life. She was supportive and understanding and she tried so hard to shield us from my dad’s drinking—” Frustration creased his face “I mean, Henry’s drinking.”
“The man raised you, Austin. You can still call him Dad.”
“I guess.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Anyway, no matter how pissed I am right now, I can’t deny that she was a good mother. She loved us, and she tried to give us a normal life even though Dad was drunk all the time. So yeah, she lied about my father, but it wasn’t like she did a bad job raising me. But Rice…”
Austin’s mouth twisted into a scowl. “He was the fun, supportive uncle we couldn’t wait to hang out with. He came to all my football games, he helped me master algebra in tenth grade. But it wasn’t a daily thing, or even a weekly thing. He came by only when it suited him.” The scowl deepened. “I can’t help but imagine how much better my life would’ve been if I had a father like him around all the time.”
“Do you blame him for not coming forward and claiming you as his son?”
Austin mulled over the question for a long time, then released an angry curse. “Yeah, I do blame him. I know it wouldn’t have been an ideal situation. It would’ve caused a shit-ton of tension between him and Henry, confused my brothers, upset my mother, but you know what? At least I would have had a father. A real one, and not a lousy drunk who fucked anything with a skirt. But instead, Rice just stood on the sidelines and pretended to be the fun uncle.”
Mari touched his face again, tracing the hard line of his jaw with her fingertips in a soothing motion.
“So I guess that’s why I can’t make the same effort with him that I give my mom.”
“I understand,” she said quietly.
“You do?”
“I really do.”
He cast a faint smile in her direction. “You know, I think I need to send that junkyard owner a fruit basket or something.”
Mari laughed. “Why?”
“Because if he hadn’t sold you that piece of shit Toyota, it wouldn’t have broken down, I wouldn’t have stopped to help you, and we wouldn’t be sitting in this car right now, about to neck.”
She raised both eyebrows. “We’re about to neck, huh?”
“Or we can fuck,” he said magnanimously. “Your call.”
Another laugh flew out. “Hmmm, so I get to choose between necking and fucking.” She slanted her head, pretending to think it over.
“Well?”
Rather than answer with words, she decided to use actions—by climbing right into his lap and unzipping his khakis.
“I like where you’re going with this,” Austin said with a nod of approval.
“I thought you would.”
She leaned in and kissed him, while at the same time reaching underneath his boxers to grasp his cock. Austin moaned into her mouth and thrust into her hand, already thick and erect. It really was an ego boost, how fast he got hard for her.
She stroked his erection and teased the head, dipping a fingertip in the dewy drop pooling at his tip and rubbing it along his hard length.
Austin’s hands weren’t idle. He promptly tugged on the bodice of her scoop-neck dress and exposed her bikini bra. When he pushed the cotton triangles aside and pinched her nipples, Mari sighed in pleasure.
“I love the way you touch me,” she murmured.
“I love touching you.”
He lovingly cupped her breasts, then brought one to his waiting mouth. Heat enveloped her flesh and sent a streak of desire straight down to her clit. As Austin captured her nipple between his teeth and nibbled gently, she wrapped her fist around his cock and pumped him faster.
The air in the car got hotter, thick with excitement. Mari squirmed in his lap as he teased her breasts with his mouth and tongue. Her breathing grew labored, her core aching so badly she released his cock and began grinding her lower body against it.
“Christ, I need to be inside you,” Austin choked out, one large hand coming out to slide beneath her dress.
Mari gasped when he shoved the crotch of her panties aside and pushed his finger inside her. Her inner muscles clamped around him, eliciting a husky groan from his lips.
“You’re so fucking wet. So fucking tight.” He added another finger, then resumed feasting on her breasts.
Mari’s head started to spin from the incredible sensations. With his tongue flicking against her nipple and his fingers fucking her so good, she was getting closer and closer to the edge. But she didn’t want to come yet, not until Austin was buried deep inside her.
Groaning, she stilled his hand. “Condom?” she asked in a desperate voice.