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.”
“Right, and now Lance and kiss-ass Guiles think that we’re making out, so they’re off the trail and won’t be coming to look for us anytime soon.”
Ford looked incredulously at her. “I can’t believe you. I swear, one of these days you’re going to get yourself killed pulling dangerous stunts like this. Corrie, please don’t make me kick you off this job.”
Corrie’s mouth dropped. “I saved your ass back there and now you’re going to threaten me?”
“The only reason my ass needed saving was because you put it on the line by sneaking out here in the first place!”
“Yeah, and if you wouldn’t have followed me, then your ass wouldn’t have needed saving!”
“I’m not letting you do this, Corrie.”
“I’m not asking for your permission.”
“Well, I’m not asking, either. I’m ordering,” he growled. His shoulders heaved as his eyes narrowed on her like lasers.
Corrie laughed. “Oh, we’re doing this again, too. The ole Charles in Charge routine.”
“Corrie, I am in charge. Like it or not. And if you take one more step in that direction, you’re done. I really don’t want to do that, and I know how important this is to you, so please don’t test me,” he said with his hands on his hips.
“And what if I don’t agree? What if I take a step in this direction, you kick me off the dig, and I go anyway?” She squared up with him, crossing her arms.
“Then I’ll drag you out of this jungle. I’m telling you. Don’t do it.”
“Drag me?” She leaned back and guffawed. “What, are you a caveman now? Ford, you won’t be putting your hands anywhere on me.”
“Really? Because it seemed like you enjoyed it a few minutes ago. Seriously, Corrie. Don’t test me.”
Don’t test me? Who the hell did he think he was? Corrie didn’t take orders from men, especially not men who lorded their positions of power over her. Her body tensed, fighting with the urge to disobey him. To show Ford he couldn’t control her.