“Do we, though?” She nuzzled closer, tangling her legs around his own, almost crushing his will to resist. It couldn’t prevent his lower half from involuntarily reacting, though. Hot, naked woman pressed against his body? Yeah... his dick couldn’t fight back the blood pumping through his veins.
“Please don’t do that,” he managed to eke out as she planted soft kisses along his neck and jawline. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation here.”
“My origin story doesn’t qualify as a serious conversation,” she teased, nipping at his skin. “Besides, we have serious conversations all the time. Come on, I don’t want to talk about work. Let’s let loose and relax while we have some peace and quiet. Enjoy each other without distractions and having to hide.”
“I don’t want to talk about work, either. I want to talk about you... and me... and what we’re doing here.”
She froze and inched away with her eyes wide as a doe in the headlights. Shit. That didn’t come out right.
“No, not like that,” he tried to explain. “I’m not talking about our relationship—”
“Relationship?”A nervous laugh escaped her lips. “Ford, you know how I feel about—”
Hmm. He didn’t really like the way she laughed at that. But, no... that wasn’t where he was trying to go with this conversation, though that was a conversation for another day. If she didn’t kill him before then.
“No, that’s not what I mean—”
“Then whatdoyou mean?”
“Well, if you’d give me a minute, I can explain—”
“Shh!” She lunged forward and placed her hand over his mouth. But when he went to pry it away, she shushed him again. “Listen,” she whispered. “Do you hear that?”
He lifted his head and listened to the sounds around him. “I don’t hear anything. If this is your way of trying to change the subject—”
“No. Wait...”
They stilled, trying to hear over the crashing waterfall, when... there. There it was.
“Ford?” a faint voice called out.
“Dr. Matthews? Dr. Mejía?” called another.
“Corrie? Ford?”
Their names were being called in the distance.
“That sounds like Ethan,” Ford said.
“And Sunny. And they’re getting closer.”
The possibility of getting caught was always there. Heck, Ethan had almost caught them the day before. But not like this. Not when completely naked with a hard-on that refused to goaway. And not with one of Ford’s students there to see. And who knew? Maybe there were more of them searching for Corrie and Ford. Maybe the whole team would pop out of the jungle at any moment, catching Corrie in the exact kind of scandal that she’d so desperately fought to avoid.
Luckily, their things were well hidden under a tree where they’d enjoyed a shady respite from the sun. Unluckily, they couldn’t chance running toward it in time to get dressed. Ford and Corrie twirled through the water, each looking for an escape route. But with the voices getting closer, they had no time.
“I think I see something,” Corrie said, pulling on Ford’s arm and swimmingtowardthe waterfall.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Look,” she said, staring into the cascade. “We can hide on the other side.”
Ford cocked back his head. “The other side? Corrie, have you lost all sense?”
“No. Check it out,” she said, before disappearing beneath the surface. He tried to reach for her hand, but he was too late.
Ford’s heart rate increased. With the churning falls, he couldn’t see below the surface. Not that the falls were massive by any stretch, but they still pounded the surface of the water with a steady thrum. Where was she? Where did she go?
Ford could swim, but he couldn’t swimthatwell. And he didn’t know CPR. Panic settled over him. How long had it been? Thirty seconds? A minute?
