“I’ll be fine. I know how to protect myself.”
“Really? Because you didn’t earlier today.”
Corrie snapped her head back. “I don’t need your protection, Ford. I would have been fine.”
He scoffed. “Oh, we’re doing this again, are we?”
“This?”
“Where you won’t acknowledge needing other people’s help. Because if I remember correctly, you seemed rather grateful for my help earlier today when I was on top of you.”
She glared at him. “Oh, please. I was trying to boost your self-esteem.”
Now he glared back. Sure, it was a low blow, but he was keeping her from going out there.
Crack-snap!
They froze and Ford grabbed Corrie, pulling her behind a tree. “You don’t need to save me again—” Corrie started, but Ford covered her mouth.
“Shh. Someone’s there,” he whispered.
His large body blocked her in against the tree. Close. So close she could almost feel him and the warmth from his body.
“If it’s a person then just tell them it’s us,” Corrie said.
“And then have to explain what we’re doing out here? Or maybe they were up to the same thing as you,” he pointed out.
They stood quietly and listened, hearing voices getting closer. And closer.
“Are you sure you saw them go this way?” one of the voices asked.
“I’m sure, boss. She got up from dinner and walked into the woods and then he followed a few minutes later. They must be trying to find it in the middle of the night,” the other responded.
“Shit,” Ford whispered, recognizing the voices. “It’s Lance and Guiles. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“So what?” Corrie asked.
“So what? They work for the investor. And sounds like Guiles thinks we’re out here trying to rip him off.”
“What should we do if we find them at the site? Are you going to fire them?” Guiles asked, getting closer and closer to their location.
“Fuck,” Ford said. “Are you happy now? We’re going to get fired.”
No. No, they couldn’t get fired like this. And, if anything, Corrie should be the one to get kicked off the job, not Ford. This was her fault. Had she not snuck into the forest, Ford wouldn’t have followed her. And Lance and Guiles wouldn’t have followed him.
They needed another reason to be out there. Something plausible that wouldn’t get them—or at least Ford—fired.
Quick.
Without further hesitation, Corrie put her hands around Ford’s neck and pulled his face to hers.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Improvising.”
He stared at her for a solid beat before crashing his lips on hers with a feverish fury. This. This was what she’d been waiting for. The kiss that had been eight years coming. The itch that needed scratching.
She tasted him. Tasted his tongue, which wrestled furiously with hers. Tasted his strong, supple lips against hers. But she wanted more. The itch still burned. Still needed satisfying. She let her hands glide down his firm, flexing chest, down his rippled abs, and to his waist, pulling his pelvis closer to hers. Pressing his core against her abdomen. Feeling him grow harder beneath those thick, rigid cargos. He let out a low moan into her mouth, and a smile broke across her lips. He sucked her lower lip before pulling his mouth away and moving to her ear lobe. Pulling. Sucking. Groaning into her ear.
With her backside pressed against the tree, Ford rolled his hips into her, massaging his erection between her legs. She tilted her hips for the perfect angle. The angle that satisfied her as much as him. A little harder. There. Right there.
A light cast into her eyes and she let out a scream.
Oh, right. Lance and Guiles. Corrie’s mind had gone blank, momentarily forgetting the reason they’d started kissing in the first place. Ford released his mouth from her neck, but didn’t back away, likely to conceal his hard-on.
“Can you turn off the light?” Ford growled with his hand shielding their faces from the beam.
“Sorry . . .” Guiles said, fumbling with the light.
“What are you doing out here?” Lance then asked.
“Isn’t that obvious?” Ford responded.
Corrie’s chest heaved, half from the apprehension of getting caught, but more from the fire caused by Ford.
“Well, I . . . I thought maybe you were . . .” Guiles stuttered, clearly flustered by finding them in the middle of whatever this was. Or whatever it looked like.
“You thought we were what?” Ford asked with confidence, as if they hadn’t just been caught in a compromising position. His face was cool and assertive. Damn, it was sexy.
“Going to the site,” Guiles responded.
“No, Guiles. We wanted some privacy. Privacy that’s nonexistent in a camp without walls and doors.”
“Guiles,” Lance said, taking a few steps forward. “You can go back to camp. I’ll handle it from here.”
Guiles glanced at each of them, assessing the situation once more. But not moving.
“I said you can go now,” Lance repeated pointedly.
“Yes, right. Right. Sorry. I . . . I’ll leave you be.”
They waited silently until Guiles scurried away. Once he was out of earshot, Ford spoke up.
“We’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell the investor about this.”
Lance waved his hand. “You don’t need to worry about that. I wasn’t brought here to snitch on you. And I’ll talk to Guiles. He’s . . . perhaps a little overeager to impress the boss,” he said with humor in his voice.
Corrie felt the tension in Ford’s chest ease. “And we’d also appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell the others about this at camp,” she added. “We don’t want people gossiping about it and not being focused on the dig.”
“Of course. Trust me, I get it, and I appreciate you wanting to make sure the team is focused. Though maybe be a little more . . . discreet,” he said with a friendly smile. Phew. “Not that there are any rules against fraternizing, but the investor has sunk a lot of money into this dig, and employees like Guiles may be looking for ways to prove their worth.”
Good point. Corrie hadn’t even considered that potential ass-kissing minions might be lurking around when she went tiptoeing out into the jungle.
“Absolutely. We thought coming out here would accomplish exactly that, but we’ll be more mindful in the future,” she followed up.
“Well, I’d better get back before Guiles starts blabbing. But don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” he said with a final head nod.
“Thank you,” Ford said with his arms still wrapped around Corrie’s waist.
They watched Lance as he faded into the trees, once again leaving them in the dark jungle, before Corrie flicked on her flashlight and moved out from Ford’s grasp. “Okay, let’s go,” she said, walking in the direction of the Chimalli site and not camp.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ford asked. “Camp’s that way.” He pointed in the direction that Lance had retreated.
“Right. And the site is this way.”
Ford furrowed his brow and shook his head. “Do you not remember what happened literally a minute ago? We almost got caught, Corrie, doing the very thing that you’re setting out to do again. We could have been fired.”