05

She couldn’t believe she actually said that, but it was the only excuse she could think of to wrap her arms around him. From the moment she saw Declan standing in the airport her hands itched with need to reach out and touch him.

Listening to the team’s stories was so entertaining that her cheeks and abdomen were starting to get sore from laughing.

While Caleb was telling a story and Declan’s attention was focused elsewhere, Lexi took the opportunity to admire all of Declan’s features. His light brown hair was a little too long to be a military cut and he would occasionally run his hand backwards through it. A short beard covered his perfectly square jawline and she wondered what that scruff would feel like against the inside of her thighs. The blush on her cheeks quickly spread across her chest at the thought and as if he could sense her arousal, Declan’s blue-gray eyes met hers. Busted.

One side of Declan’s mouth lifted into a knowing smile, but he couldn’t possibly have known she was fantasizing about him, could he ?

At first she thought it was her imagination, but as the night went on she and Declan kept stealing glances like a couple of horny teenagers. Maybe the feeling was mutual ? But how on earth could a man that looked like that be interested in her ? He was near perfect and she was far from it, but that didn’t seem to stop his eyes from roaming all over her. Each time she caught him staring her breath would catch in her throat and she couldn’t help but smile. It was hard to concentrate on the rest of the group with Declan’s wandering eyes stealing her focus, but she had to admit she was enjoying being admired.

Nate was mid-story when a loud rhythmic thumping sound against the wall caught everyone’s attention. The noise in the room instantly stalled as the group eavesdropped and a loud over exaggerated moan seeped through the thin sheet rock.

« I think the neighbors are bumpin’ uglies, » Marcus chuckled, stating the obvious.

« Well at least somebody is getting some tonight, » Pierce grumbled. He lifted his beer and tilted it towards the wall. « Cheers, man. »

The conversation in the room resumed only to be interrupted again by the rhythmic thumping of headboard on wall. « Do you think that’s morse code for fuck me harder ? » Nate joked as the thumping noise continued.

« Nah, not enough vowels » Declan replied.

« Wait do you guys actually know morse code ? » Lexi asked.

« Yes ma’am » Marcus confirmed.

Excitement flashed in Lexi’s eyes and she sat up onto her knees in the chair eagerly.

« Oh you have to teach me, » she squealed.

« Why on earth would you need to know morse code ? » Nate asked dryly.

« I was watching a documentary the other day about that guy that was just found after being lost at sea for like two months. » She closed her eyes, scrunched up her face and snapped in the air while she tried to recall his name. « William – something. Anyway his name’s not important. My point is he was saved because he signaled a cruise ship SOS in morse code using his flashlight. »

« You planning on being lost at sea, Lex ? » Declan asked with a laugh.

The sound of her nickname rolling off of Declan’s lips made Lexi’s ears perk and her insides melt.

« Lexi you hate boats. Never could get you to step foot on one, » Nate chimed in.

« You’re right but that’s mostly because I am so scared of drowning or being stranded out there. Maybe being able to signal for help with morse code would fix that. »

« I doubt it, » Nate countered.

« Quit giving Lexi shit » Pierce scolded. « She can learn morse code if she wants to, but it’s already almost 1 :00 am so you better get started, Darlin. »

« What if you just taught me SOS ? »

Nate rolled his eyes in response.

« Oh come on pleeease. »

« Jeez Nate, you gonna make her beg like that ? Don’t worry I’ll teach you. » Declan smiled as he grabbed a notepad and pen off the desk and sauntered toward her.

Lexi really did want to know morse code, but it was a double win that Declan would be the one to teach her.

He crouched down in front of the chair Lexi was sitting in and she quickly repositioned herself with her legs criss-crossed. She was excited to learn, but was equally glad to have Declan so close to her, practically touching her as he steadied his gigantic frame on the balls of his feet. She leaned forward intently and discreetly inhaled his clean masculine scent.

« Morse code is basically dots and dashes that represent letters of the alphabet. The dots are short and the dashes are longer. An S is three dots and an O is three dashes. So all you want to do is spell it out. »

Declan jotted down the SOS code on the pad and tapped the pen along with it. Nodding as he spoke, Lexi raised her hand to the pad and attempted to imitate the code that Declan had tapped out.

« Almost, you have to do the O at a slower pace, » he corrected.

Suddenly Lexi felt the weight of Declan’s massive hand on her leg. The contact sent shivers through her body and she took in a quick breath at the sensation. His eyes met hers and he kept them there, holding her gaze as he slid his hand from her knee to her thigh and tapped the code.

Feeling the blush burning her cheeks, Lexi licked her lips and pressed them together to try to conceal her reaction from Declan, but failed miserably. She heard a low, almost inaudible, growl escape the back of his throat and watched his adams apple bob up and down as he swallowed hard.

Quickly becoming aware that they were still in a room full of people, Lexi snapped herself out of her trance and swept her eyes around to room to check for onlookers. Luckily the rest of the group seemed to be lost in conversation and hopefully hadn’t noticed Lexi and Declan were ready to rip each others clothes off.

« I think I got it ! » She said, hoping to take the attention away from her sudden desperation fir Declan. She reached behind her and tapped onto the wall of the hotel with her knuckle.