The Very Naughty List

13. Hailey

13

HAILEY

I stand under the spray for a minute in the dark, hoping the power will come back on, but it doesn’t.

Dammit .

Had I thought through this better, I would have brought my pajamas into the bathroom with me. But I figured I would just wrap up in a towel and walk back to my room to change afterward. After all, the guys would likely all be in bed by the time I got out. I was planning on leaving the bathroom nice and tidy and bringing my toiletries back to my room with me too, but it’s impossible to see in the dark.

One thing that’s very different about Montana versus Los Angeles is that the nights here are as black as the bottom of the ocean. There aren’t thousands of city lights to provide a near constant glow of illumination. In Chestnut Hill, there are only the moon and stars shining in the sky. Or when it’s overcast, as is the case tonight, nothing but pitch black darkness.

I fumble around in the bathroom as I turn off the water and step out of the shower, reaching for a towel without being able to see my hand in front of my face.

My hair is dripping wet, and I shiver as I wrap the towel around my body and hold it securely against my chest.

When I open the door, I grimace. For some reason, I was hoping there would be more light out here, but there isn’t. I’m not familiar enough with this house to be able to walk the hallway completely blind and feel confident I won’t run into anything, but I’ll have to try. I can hear muffled voices from downstairs, but I don’t want to call out to any of the guys.

I’d really rather not have to be rescued yet again tonight. I can handle this on my own.

Hopefully I won’t run into that giant dog in the dark. As much as the guys say he’s harmless, I still don’t want to tempt fate by scaring Bruno and making him think I’m an intruder who needs to be taken down.

I walk as quickly and quietly as I can, trying to navigate the hallway by memory and reaching out to trail my hand along the wall so I won’t accidentally bump into it. I’m feeling pretty confident about my skills navigating a somewhat unfamiliar space in the dark—until I crash into a wall of solid muscle.

“Ahh!”

I yelp in surprise as my body collides with a taller, broader one. My balance is thrown off, and as I grab on to whoever it is, I lose my grip on my towel … leaving me pressed up against a very wet, very naked body.

“Oh shit! I’m sorry!” I blurt, reaching down to try to catch my towel before it hits the floor.

I don’t manage to grab it, but I do grab something.

Something thick and warm, with what feels like a line of metal piercings along the underside of it.

Something that pulses in my hand, hardening and becoming even thicker than before as I give it an unconscious little squeeze.

Holy shit .

“If you wanted to touch my dick, shortcake, you could’ve just asked.” Sebastian’s voice is dripping with a husky sarcasm that makes me blush even in the dark.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god .

“Sorry! Sorry!” I step back, quickly releasing my grip on his rapidly hardening cock.

Heat flames in my cheeks, and I crouch down, scrambling to find my towel and awkwardly wrapping it around my damp body again. Then I straighten up, keeping one hand on the wall to steady myself.

“It’s okay.” Sebastian chuckles. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness enough by now that I can vaguely make out his features—enough to see the smirk curving his lips, anyway. “Could’ve happened to anyone. I was in the other shower when the power went out, and I was heading back to my room to get some clothes. I didn’t think to grab a towel. Didn’t realize how handsy our new roommate was.”

His smirk widens as he adds that last part, and I smack at his bare chest, ignoring the way my stomach does somersaults at the feel of his damp skin beneath my palm. “I’m not handsy, I just couldn’t see what I was reaching for!”

He chuckles. “If you say so. But that doesn’t explain the way you were groping me.”

“I wasn’t groping, I just… squeezed a little.”

“Potato, potahto.”

He cocks his head to one side, and I bite my lower lip. It’s a miracle that the flush of embarrassment rippling through me hasn’t dried my skin completely and burned the towel to a crisp in the process. I have no response to that, because I definitely did feel him up a bit.

“I was just surprised, that’s all,” I insist. “I didn’t know you were… uh… pierced.”

“Yup. Did it a couple years ago.”

“How many are there?”

His eyes glint in the darkness. “Wanna count for yourself?”

Oh god. Yes .

I know he’s probably just teasing though, and there’s no way I’m going to humiliate myself even more by grabbing his cock on purpose this time, so I don’t say that out loud. Instead, I let my gaze flick downward briefly before rising back up to his face.

“Did it hurt?” I whisper.

His chuckle rumbles in his chest. “Yeah. It hurt like a son of a bitch. Which you still owe me for, by the way.”

I blink. “Wait, what?”

“Well, I got them because of you.” I can practically hear his smile through the darkness.

My eyes widen, my jaw dropping open a little. For a moment, I have no idea what he means—and then it hits me.

“The dare,” I breathe.

Years ago, when we were still kids, I was hanging out with the Cooper triplets and my brother one night, and I dared Sebastian to get a piercing. He didn’t have any back then, and I remember teasing him about how he’d probably be a baby about the pain.

Guess I was wrong about that.

We dared each other to do stupid stuff like that all the time. His brothers and my brother never got quite as competitive about it as Sebastian and I did, but I remember dozens of dares being thrown down over the course of our childhood and teenage years. I didn’t think he’d ever actually follow through on that dare, though. In fact, I forgot all about it until now.

But clearly, he didn’t. He really did it. And he got that pierced, of all things. More than once.

The thought makes my face flush. I can’t get the image out of my head, no matter how much I try to think of anything else. The harder I try, the more vivid the image gets as my mind tries to piece together what I felt and figure out what it would look like.

“I—I can’t believe you actually did that,” I mutter, digging my fingers into the towel where I’m holding it clasped above my breasts.

He lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “You ought to know better than anyone that I never back down from a dare. Especially not from you, shortcake.”

His voice drops lower on the last words, and he takes a half step closer to me, until our chests are nearly brushing. An unspoken implication hangs in the air between us as his words settle in my ears, and it makes goosebumps race across my skin. I almost feel like he’s goading me, like he’s daring me to throw down another challenge.

My breath catches in my throat as his scent surrounds me, his features shadowy in the near total darkness. I wish I could see him better. I wish I could read the look on his face.

What would he do if I dared him to kiss me right now?

The thought zaps through me like a bolt of lightning, making my lips tingle with the urge to speak. But I can’t quite say it out loud, so the silence hangs between us, thick and loaded with tension.

Sebastian swallows, his Adam’s apple rising and falling, then moves another inch closer to me. I can feel the heat radiating from his body, feel the brush of air across my lips every time he exhales, and I feel like I might pass out from how hard my heart is pounding. Without even thinking about it, I tilt my head up, my tongue darting out to wet my lips.

His gaze drops sharply, and he makes a noise low in his throat that goes straight to my clit.

“Fuck it,” he mutters suddenly, and before I know what’s happening, his mouth is on mine.

He cups my face in his hands as he kisses me, turning us so that my back hits the wall and boxing me in, pressing his body against mine as he devours my lips. His cock is fully hard now, pressing against my stomach through the towel, and the feeling of it sparks something inside me.

I kiss him back like I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life, pushing away all the voices in my head screaming at me that this is a bad idea. I never thought I’d be making out like this with Sebastian Cooper in his childhood home during a power outage, but here we are.

And if I’m being honest, there’s something incredibly hot about the risk of getting caught like this.

I know each of the triplets are trying to “win” me in public, but this moment between us can’t be for show, because there’s no one around—and it’s dark, so they couldn’t see anyway. So what is Sebastian trying to prove? I’m not sure what the answer to that question is, but right now, I decide I don’t give a damn.

“Fuck, you smell good,” he groans, dragging his lips away from mine to nip at my earlobe. “It’s been driving me fucking crazy.”

He teases my clit more deliberately, making me arch against him, and he lets out a harsh breath as my stomach grinds against his cock.

“I bet you taste good too,” he mutters, finding my mouth again. “ Everywhere .”

He rolls his hips, grinding against me again, and my towel falls open as I let go of it to wrap my arms around his neck. Our bodies meet skin to skin, on purpose this time, and it’s the most incredible feeling in the world.

I can feel the hardness of his cock, the firm planes of his chest brushing against my nipples as his tongue tangles with mine, and the pressure of his fingertips as he slides them between my legs, spreading my wetness over them. It’s so much all at once, but at the same time, it’s not enough. I need more.

“Sebastian,” I whimper. “I…”

“I’ve got you.”

His voice is a low rasp as one thick finger finds my entrance. I gasp, my inner walls clenching in anticipation as he starts to press slowly inside. I barely even notice when the lights flicker twice then flare back on. I’m too lost in him, in everything he’s doing, and the spell between us doesn’t break until a few seconds later when the sounds of his brothers’ voices echo from the stairs.

“We must have blown a fuse or something. Piece of shit house,” Nick grumbles, his voice moving closer, and I shove Sebastian away from me in a panic.

Before Nick and Reid can reach the top of the stairs, I snatch up my towel and throw it around me before darting past Sebastian toward my room. With my heart pounding and my mind racing, I close the door behind me as quietly as possible and hold my breath, praying silently that no one saw us.