Free Mafia Soldier's Irresistible Lover (The Karzhov Crime Family Series Book 3) by Leslie North

the water. The steam had caused the shorter tendrils around her face to curl, and her cheeks had a nice rosy hue to them.
    As he let his gaze travel around the bathroom, he suspected the flush in her cheeks had as much to do with the half-empty brandy bottle as it did the steamy air of the bathroom.
    She was humming to herself with her eyes closed, using a small handheld sponge on her arms and across her collarbones. When she dipped the sponge below the water, rubbing it across her chest, circling her breasts multiple times, Val wasn’t sure who moaned first—her or him.
    Someone did, however, causing Chelsea to raise her eyes and widen them. “What are you doing here?”
    Val stepped closer to the bath, unable to keep his eyes from travelling from her face down the length of her body. He could just make out the dusky pink of her nipples beneath the water and, lower still, the darker hair that covered her femininity. Her height made concealing her entire body in the tub almost impossible, but he smiled at her attempt to do so.
    Chelsea couldn’t believe Val was standing in her bathroom, watching her with those hungry eyes of his. She’d just been thinking how nice his earlier hug had felt. She’d been turned on by him the night before, and just thinking about the way he smelled and how hard his chest muscles had felt had her longing to be held by him again.
    When she’d heard herself moan at how sensitive her breasts had become, she’d opened her eyes to find the object of her imagination standing there. In living, breathing, warm flesh. God, I wish he’d hold me again.
    Chelsea watched him take another step closer, grabbing up a big fluffy towel on his way. When he held the towel out for her, she kept her eyes glued to his own as she pushed herself up from the tub and stepped over the edge and into the towel.
    Val was proud of himself for keeping his eyes on hers and not letting them travel the length of her luscious body. She deserved to be treated with respect, and he doubted she’d had that experience often enough to come to appreciate it. He was determined to give that to her.
    “I brought a snack tray up for us and some wine. Although, by the looks of that bottle, you might do better with water,” Val teased her, wrapping the towel around her body and grabbing a second one for her hair.
    “Come sit on the bed and I’ll dry your hair for you.”
    Chelsea let him lead her out of the bathroom, sitting down on the bed and then scooting back at his insistence. He was treating her like a small child, but she found she didn’t mind all that much. It had been so long since someone had taken care of her. It was truly a novelty, and one she found she enjoyed. Very much.
    Val dug around on her dresser top, finding her brush and comb. He returned to the bed and removed his shoes before climbing up to sit behind her. When she moved to turn toward him, he stopped her. “No, face away from me so I can comb the tangles out of your hair.”
    “I can comb out my own hair,” Chelsea reminded him, finally finding her voice.
    “I know you can, but I want to do it.” Val waited until she had turned back around before he used the towel to rub the excess moisture from the strands. Using the comb, he carefully detangled her hair, letting the silky strands flow through his fingertips as they dried.
    He was entranced by the variety of colors in her hair. At first glance, it looked auburn and very normal. But up close, there were varying shades of brown mixed in with some reds, and even a few dark blond strands here and there. Her little sounds of pleasure as he toyed with her hair had his groin hardening to painful levels in a few seconds.
    Needing to give himself a little respite, he climbed from the bed and put the brush and comb back on her dresser before picking up the tray of snack foods and bringing it to the bed.
    “You haven’t asked about Terrence,” Val commented as he handed her a plate.
    Chelsea shrugged her