"Why is your face so red?" Freya asked me, and she tilted her head to inspect my flushed features closely.
I panicked internally because I could not tell her the truth. I could never admit that I had just watched her strip her clothing off through the transparent bathroom glass. My heart raced erratically against my ribs, and I desperately tried to invent a logical excuse for my severe physical state.
Before I could form a convincing lie, a loud crashing sound echoed from the first floor of the massive mansion. Several agitated voices started arguing loudly near the front entrance, and the noise completely shattered the quiet atmosphere of the west wing.
I breathed a massive sigh of relief because the sudden commotion provided a perfect distraction.
"We need to go downstairs and investigate that noise immediately," I told her quickly, and I grabbed a dark blue silk robe from the end of the mattress to cover my sweatpants.
Freya frowned in confusion, but she nodded her head and followed me out of the master suite. We walked down the long corridor, and we navigated the wide marble staircase together. The loud voices grew much clearer as we approached the grand living room on the first floor.
I walked through the wide archway, and I immediately spotted the source of the disturbance. Eliza was standing in the center of the living room, and she was aggressively directing two household staff members who were carrying several heavy designer leather suitcases. Nadia was standing directly next to my stepmother, and my former fiancée wore a tight red dress while she smiled smugly at the busy workers.
"What exactly is happening inside my house right now?" I demanded in a stern voice while I tied the belt of my silk robe.
Eliza turned around to face us, and she looked at Freya with absolute disdain before she focused her attention on me.
"Nadia experienced a terrible plumbing emergency at her luxury penthouse tonight," Eliza explained smoothly, although her sudden lie was completely obvious to anyone with basic common sense. "Her entire apartment is flooded with water, so I invited her to stay in our guest room for the entire week until the repair workers fix her pipes."
I clenched my jaw tightly because I knew Eliza arranged this fake emergency simply to bring Nadia closer to me. They wanted to ruin my new marriage, and they believed physical proximity would tempt me to break my legal contract. I fully expected Freya to become angry or storm back upstairs to avoid the hostile women.
Instead, Freya smiled warmly and stepped much closer to my side. She wrapped her arm securely around my waist, and she rested her head against my shoulder to present a united front.
"That is such a terrible situation for your beautiful home, Nadia, but we are very happy to host you in our guest room," Freya said in a sweet, pleasant voice that completely hid her sassy intentions.
Nadia narrowed her eyes because she clearly expected Freya to feel intimidated by her sudden arrival. Freya simply ignored the angry glare, and she looked up at my face while she patted my chest gently with her hand.
"I am going to visit the kitchen to get a late-night dessert for us, darling," Freya announced loudly so the other women could hear her affectionate words.
She walked away toward the kitchen hallway, leaving me entirely alone with the two hostile women. Eliza instructed the staff members to carry the luggage upstairs, and she followed them to supervise the unpacking process.
Nadia immediately walked over to me, and she stood much too close to my personal space.
"Your new wife seems very unbothered by my presence, Mason," Nadia purred while she reached her right hand out to touch my arm.
I stepped backward quickly to avoid her physical contact, and I glared at her with intense dislike.
"Freya is a very welcoming person, and you will keep your hands completely to yourself while you sleep under my roof," I warned her coldly. "I do not want you here, and you will not interfere with my marriage."
"You do not have to pretend with me, Mason, because I know you only married that cheap waitress to secure your corporate position," Nadia countered confidently. "You will eventually grow tired of her poor manners, and you will realize that we belong together."
I opened my mouth to correct her arrogant assumption, but Freya walked back into the living room before I could speak. Freya was carrying two small ceramic bowls filled with expensive vanilla ice cream, and she held two silver spoons in her left hand.
Nadia noticed the dessert, and she immediately decided to assert her prior knowledge of my personal habits.
"Oh, you brought the imported vanilla bean flavor from the freezer," Nadia stated with a fake gasp of delight. "Mason absolutely loves that specific flavor, and we always used to share a single bowl together whenever we ate dessert in the evenings. You should hand that second bowl to me so we can continue our old tradition right now."
Freya did not hand the ceramic bowl to Nadia, and she did not look upset by the intrusive comment at all.
"You do not need to bother yourself with his dessert, Nadia, because I am fully capable of feeding my own husband," Freya replied politely, and she walked directly past my former fiancée.
I walked backward and sat down on the thick cushions of the large velvet sofa. I expected Freya to sit on the empty cushion right next to me, but she surprised me completely.
Freya turned around and sat sideways directly across my lap. She draped her legs smoothly over my thighs, and she rested her back comfortably against my right arm.
My entire body tensed instantly because the physical contact was highly unexpected. Her soft cotton pajama pants pressed firmly against my legs, and the fresh scent of her vanilla shampoo filled my senses. I had just spent twenty long minutes trying to calm my severe physical arousal inside the bedroom, and her sudden proximity brought the intense heat rushing straight back to my groin.
Freya ignored my stiff posture, and she scooped a small amount of vanilla ice cream onto her silver spoon. She lifted the cold metal spoon toward my mouth, and she smiled at me with pure, manufactured affection.
"Open your mouth, darling," Freya instructed me softly.
I opened my mouth, and I ate the sweet dessert while I maintained my performance as a devoted husband. I swallowed the cold food, but my internal body temperature was rising rapidly.
Nadia stood near the stone fireplace, and her face turned completely red with intense jealousy. She gripped the edge of the wooden mantle tightly, and she watched us with pure hatred in her eyes.
Freya noticed Nadia's furious expression, and she clearly decided to escalate her sassy revenge. Freya shifted her weight on my lap, and she slowly rolled her hips backward against my sensitive center.
The soft friction sent a massive jolt of electricity straight to my brain. My breath hitched in my throat, and I gripped the thick velvet fabric of the sofa cushion to stop my hands from shaking.
Freya scooped another spoonful of ice cream from the ceramic bowl, and she ground her hips against me a second time while she pushed the spoon toward my lips.
I swallowed the second bite of dessert, but my body was currently burning with a severe physical need. I moved my left hand away from the sofa cushion, and I gripped her waist tightly to stop her provocative movements.
She simply twisted her torso against my grip to reach her own bowl, and the resulting friction was absolute torture. My physical arousal became painfully obvious beneath my dark sweatpants, and I prayed the thick silk fabric of my robe would hide my compromised state from Nadia's sharp eyes.
I kept my facial expression completely straight to fool the angry woman watching us, but I was rapidly losing my internal control. Freya was playing a dangerous social game, and she had absolutely no idea how heavily her physical actions affected my body.
"Nadia looks extremely angry right now, and her jealousy is very amusing to watch," Freya whispered very quietly into my ear while she leaned forward to pretend to kiss my cheek.
She rolled her hips heavily against me once more to emphasize her victory over my former fiancée, and my vision actually blurred for a brief second from the intense physical pleasure.
I could not endure the physical torture for another single second without embarrassing myself completely in the center of the living room. I turned my head slightly, and I pressed my lips directly against the sensitive shell of her ear. I lowered my voice into a dark, gritty tone so only she could hear my serious threat.
"I advise you to stop grinding on me right now, Freya, otherwise I will not promise to put our legal contract at the back of my head and fuck you right here on this sofa," I warned her.