Author's Note: This chapter contains strong adult content. If you'd prefer not to read it, by all means skip it and resume with Chapter 5. You'll be able to tell what happened from context.

Life Is A Highway66, thank you so much for the kind reviews!

"Git yer headlights off! We don't want anyone seein' us from the road," called Doreen as they turned off the dirt road and onto the narrow and pitted driveway leading to the Tireiron family shack. The front door creaked as she swung it open and held it back for Mater to pass through. They were entering an empty house, of course. The others were already en route to a roadside tavern near the mansion, where they would bide their time until she had the security system down at 1 a.m. sharp.

The door swung shut on her tailgate, causing the screen to tear, then she fell against Mater as they fumbled in the darkness. The power had been shut off ages ago and her brothers hadn't thought to leave out a candle where she could find it. Giving up on a light source, Doreen relied on memory and rustled through Clyde's toolbox for the items she would need to do the job. As she stuffed them into a sack, her tires shook. There. Everything she needed was by the front door.

"We got twenty minutes 'till we hit the road, Mater." Her voice sounded pitifully weak. She had felt hopelessness many times before but never had she felt so downright…damned. Once she'd accomplished her part of tonight's mission, she would truly have become everything she hated and had spent her whole life trying to avoid.

Mater knocked over a small piece of furniture – he wasn't sure what -- and brushed against her again in the murky darkness. "Yer shiverin', Doreen." The tow truck rolled forward and locked a front tire with his girlfriend's, pulling her against him reassuringly. He could tell this was a different kind of unease than she'd shown when they'd fooled around back at the motel.

"Yeah, it's nerves. I don't wanna pull off this break-in crap but damned if I don't gotta. We gotta." Her voice trailed off as she moved away, then he heard a hiss as she opened a can of ethanol in the kitchen. "It's room temperature, but ya want any?"

They took several cans and made their way to her tiny room at the back of the house, the only light to guide them coming through the filthy windows, from a sliver of moon overhead and some fireflies flitting about the overgrown lawn. They drank the ethanol with grim determination, trying to steel their nerves but not talking much. Mater dropped the last empty can and it clattered to the floor near the faded quilt Doreen slept on.

"There, we both had some booze. We can't go anywhere now, can we? It'd be drinkin' and driv—" Doreen's desperate rambling was cut off by a kiss from Mater, and not an innocent one like they'd shared at the track.

"Yer sweatin' somethin' awful," he said softly, running a tire along her side as she leaned into his touch. Powerful feelings were welling up within her, and she knew they had nothing to do with the heist. Giving in to them, Doreen rested both front tires on Mater's bumper, bringing herself up higher to kiss him more deeply. She flinched as his tires slid along her front axle.

"Ah…we'd better knock it off, we gotta git goin'—" she said, still trying to persuade herself they'd be on the road any minute now. His kisses grew more aggressive in response. Dammit…

Tow Mater's mind was racing as he struggled with the same conflict as Doreen. She clearly shared his idea right now, and yet very soon they had to get out there and break every law in the books…didn't they? He stroked her fender as she clung to him. Mater suddenly felt very protective of Doreen and decided, once and for all, that damned if either of them were going to be part of her father's crazy and dangerous plan.

We shoulda been outta here already. If we leave real soon and ignore the speed limit, we could still make it there on time. The pickup stubbornly tried to focus on the steps that would be necessary to bring down the alarm system instead of where Mater's tires were meandering, but finally surrendered those thoughts to feelings of pleasure.

Aw hell, I'm so glad we're not goin' out there. I never wanted that anyway, I just want…this. Doreen backed off a bit and looked over her fender as she felt a slight tug on her side, near the bottom of her door. Mater had slipped his tow hook just under the edge of her frame.

"Are ya sure ya want to do this?" he asked, anticipation in his voice.

"Hell yeah." She practically breathed the words, surprised the moment had come so soon when they'd just started. A feeling of vertigo momentarily passed over her as she felt herself being carefully lifted.

In the near total darkness, Tow Mater had a sudden panicky thought that Monroe would happen upon them like they were now. There was a single doorway to the room they were in and it just led back to the narrow hallway. Mater found himself wishing Tommy Joe were there now – well, not literally there now – but he did wish he had asked his cousin's advice on how to escape that situation if it happened. Tommy Joe, by his own admission, had fled from many angry fathers and jealous boyfriends. Mater tried to swallow his fear and he interlocked tires with Doreen as they moved together.

"Yer okay down there?" he asked tenderly, hoping he was doing everything alright and that she couldn't sense how unsure he felt. He could tell she was trying hard not to cry out.

"Mmn-hmm." Underneath him, Doreen had a rougher time of things. She gripped his tire treads with her own, supporting his weight as her roof rocked against the hard floor. Intense sensations surged through her but they were mixed with sharp pain and lingering guilt. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't be tempted to try and read the wobbling neon numbers on the bedside clock. When she was able to open them again, all else was forgotten and she watched Mater's form moving above her. Even though this was what years of rumors had her doing with every truck, car and semi in Carburetor County, this experience was altogether new to her, and it was amazingly wonderful despite the physical discomfort. Becky had warned her it could hurt, but Doreen had felt worse from all the hard knocks in life.

Their movement eventually slowed and Mater bent to kiss her before rolling back and helping her onto her wheels. For a brief time they rested, front tires clasped together. She was still trembling but no longer from anxiety.

Mater's breath caught in his throat. "Was it good for ya too?" he asked, his voice uncertain. That line had come from Tommy Joe. Among the other advice he'd given Tow Mater regarding matters of the heart, he'd insisted it was the most romantic thing you could ask a girl after lovemaking, and in fact if you neglected to ask it she'd be so offended she'd probably never want to be with you again.

Fortunately for Mater, Doreen was as unsophisticated in these matters as he was. "It was," she began, then truthfully added, "but it was a little awkward and it hurt some too. Ain't yer fault, it was me. Despite all the racy rumors ya might have heard, ya were my first."

"Oh." Mater was touched.

He felt her fender shrug as she snuggled against him. "What the hell, I'm sure it'll be better next time when I'm not so inexperienced."

Next time? Had he heard that right? She wanted him again…

"How many times did ya do it before it got really good?" Mater felt his engine growing hot at her intimate question, then he grinned. It felt good to joke around again now that they were relieved from the pressure of having to take part in the break-in.

"Well, lemme see…there was that Corvette gal that done thrown herself at me, it took maybe three times with her …then there was those Beetle twins and then I think it went Datsun coupe, Mustang, Nova. What're we up to so far, six?"

As he continued, Doreen's jaw dropped low as a mental parade of her lover's previous partners passed by.

He continued, "And things got really good by the time I was with that hatchback chick, and even better by the time I moved on to the trucks. That cement mixer I nailed—"

The parade came to an instant halt. Doreen perked up and pounced against him hard, nearly knocking him sideways.

"Ya had me there, but ya sure as hell weren't with no cement mixer!" She tried not to laugh, so ridiculous was his bragging. "Why couldn't ya have just been serious for once and admitted this was yer first time too?" Mater only snickered as she had him pinned, and then when she was caught off guard laughing, he wriggled himself free just enough to pull her down against him.

…She was right. The second time turned out to be better.

Author's Note: For those hoping to read a super-romantic love scene only to find that this chapter read more like the awkward stuff in a Judy Blume novel, sorry. I was aiming for realism. No flaming for content, please!

...Just be glad the phrases 'dadgum' and 'git-r-done' were never uttered in this chapter. :)