Emiliano
PAPASOTE Y PRINCESA
“I’ve never seen a horse up close before,” Taina murmurs as she runs her hand along my new horse, Papasote .
I have no qualms, admitting this horse is big as fuck. I should’ve named him Pinche Gordito , but I wanted to speak positively about his larger stature rather than poke fun. Shit, I hate when people make funny comments about my height and weight.
Yes, I’m a big motherfucker.
No, I don’t need anyone to remind me.
Taina peers up at me, squinting under the relentless sun. She’s radiant, with her hair in two braids. I snag one of the hats hanging just inside the barn and plop it on her head.
“I’ll get you your own tejana soon. For now, use mine.” It’d been in there for years now—likely about seven or eight—since I gave up all of my hobbies, first for law school and then for my career.
“How do I look?” She smiles up at me, and if I thought she was radiant before, she’s giving the sun a run for its money.
“Happy,” I murmur, stepping up beside her to cup her face. “Maybe this place is just what you needed. ”
She stares up at me, and I can see the golden-brown streaks in her eyes. She glances away before stepping back, like being seen makes her uncomfortable.
Like I haven’t been seeing her from the moment I first laid eyes on her; in my dreams, when my mind wanders, any time she shares space with me.
But I’m not going to pressure her. She knows I’m here, and she proved it when she climbed into my bed last night.
She’s skittish, and I have to give her the space to decide to want me herself.
“Do you want to go for a ride?” I ask, running my hand down Papasote’s forehead to his muzzle. He may be big, but he’s a softie.
“I don’t know…” she starts, looking up at the horse. “I feel like going from seeing one for the first time to riding it is a huge jump.”
“You can get on with me,” I offer, knowing he can handle our weight. “But if you don’t want to, you can just help me clean out the stalls.”
Taina glances back, her nose crinkling at the idea of dealing with horse shit. She holds her up hands to show me her long nails, and with a shake of her head, I remember who I’m dealing with.
Princesa.
I nod, adjusting my baseball cap with a snort.
“You’re gonna stay on a ranch?—”
“And keep a fresh manicure, yes,” she finishes, peering up at me for a moment. “I’ll go for a ride. But afterwards you can come with me to get a pedicure.”
If she thinks I’m afraid of getting pampered, she’s about to be disappointed. The women at the nearby nail salon used to know me well, and I hope it’s still there so I can bring Taina.
Before she can change her mind, I grab Papasote’s ornate saddle and gear—handmade in México and brought down from the attic—and prepare to get him all set up as quickly as I can.
All while I work as swiftly as possible, I feel her eyes on me.
I glance in her direction as I tighten the last strap, and she’s smiling.
The stark difference between who she was before she came here and who she is now is enough to make me think she should never leave.
I take the bandana from my back pocket and swipe at the sweat on my forehead before tugging my hat back down.
“I’ll get on first and then I’ll help you up,” I inform her, already sticking my right foot in the stirrup. She nods, and I hook my leg over, landing in a perfect seated position.
Just like eating pussy, the body never forgets.
She in jeans, a white T-shirt, and the boots I got her. Between her outfit, the tejana she looks cute as fuck in, and her smile, my world’s axis is tilting.
And somehow, she’s becoming the core.
Beautiful women should be admired.
Taina should be worshipped.
She holds her hands out and shoves her foot in the stirrup, gripping my arms tightly as I lift her. When she’s safely on the seat, her plump ass against my dick, I inhale her scent. Even through the smell of manure, I’m turned on.
After learning what she tastes like, it’s a wonder my balls aren’t aching with the need to release.
“Do you call off work often?” she asks as I take hold of the reins. I tap my heels against Papasote’s ribs, and he starts to walk, his easy gait rocking Taina against me.
“No,” I answer. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever missed a day. Not even when Papi died, knowing he would’ve given me shit if he knew. “I enjoy my work, so it doesn’t feel like I need a break from it.”
“What do you like about it?”
The answer comes easily.
“It makes me too busy to worry about anything else. ”
“What would you be worried about?”
Jesucristo , she’s quick with her questions.
How much do I want to share? I’d rather keep it light and enjoy our time together. Who wants to hear about the stresses of not knowing whether this will be the day someone takes out one of my family members? And maybe this is why I’ve been single.
Just another person whose safety will be compromised. We signed on for this. Taina did not.
“Just…life.”
“The only reason I’m going to let that slide is because you don’t pressure me to share much about myself,” she quips, and I can just hear her smirk.
“What do you think so far?” I ask, trying to pivot. When I look out at the property, I wonder what it would be like to stay here with her forever. To teach her my favorite dishes and learn hers, to fall asleep next to her and wake up knowing she’s still there before I’ve even opened my eyes.
“It’s peaceful,” she answers, her words pensive as we trot along.
I don’t say anything else, opting to leave to her to enjoy her first time on a horse.
“You know you’re gonna need more furniture, right?” Her question catches me off guard, and I shake my head at her ability to surprise me.
“I got rid of a lot of things when my father died,” I start, not sharing that he died in the house we’re currently staying in.
For me, the furniture felt tainted. I could paint the walls, but nothing would remind me of death more than sitting in rooms that still looked like what Papi saw in his last moments.
“That house is gonna need a lot of things. But we can start with furniture,” I reassure her, hoping she’ll help me pick what she likes.
I’m hopeless, my apartment in the city not having much outside of what’s necessary.
“Just don’t touch my Philly Scarlets memorabilia.
Luca De Laurentiis is a good friend of mine and an amazing goalie. ”
It’s the off-season, but Papi was one of their biggest fans. Watching him hang out with their goalie and the assistant coach, who happens to be Luca’s brother, is one of my most cherished memories.
“We?” she asks, turning her head so I see the outline of her lips. I lean forward and press a kiss to her shoulder, not missing the way she goes rigid for just a moment.
At first, I think it’s because I kissed her, but then I notice one of my men running toward us, a gun in his grip. Her nails dig into my arms, and I wrap them around her waist.
“Relax,” I say directly into her ear. “He works for me.” I tug on the reins to get Papasote to stop.
She slides her hands off me, but her body is still stiff as he approaches.
“Put that shit away pinche pendejo. ?Qué chingados haces? ”
He grunts, shoving the gun into his holster, his black hat blocking the sun from his face. He peeks at Taina, but I snap my fingers.
Stay focused. And away from her.
“The car just arrived.” His walkie-talkie goes off, and he stops to listen to the fuzzy words before relaying them to me. “It requires your signature.”
“We have to head back, Princesa ,” I tell her, already tapping my heels against the horse’s sides, and whistle through my teeth.
We’re going a bit faster than our leisurely stroll, but I notice how Taina leans back against me, almost like she’s falling asleep.
When I look down at her, her eyes are open, but she doesn’t look like she’s with me.
Once we get to the barn, I climb down before helping her off. As we lead Papasote back to his stall, I glance around to make sure no one can overhear us.
“What’s wrong, Taina? ”
Her eyes won’t meet mine, and her voice is low.
But I hear her clearly.
“I don’t want to see men like that anymore.”
“They’re here to make sure we’re safe.”
“You’re here to make sure I’m safe.”
“And what about when I’m not here?”
“I don’t want to see them. I don’t want them in or near the house,” she insists, and of course I’m going to respect her wishes. As long as she knows why they’re here.
“I have…pretty powerful family members,” I try, wondering how else I can explain this to her without scaring her. “So powerful that someone might want to harm me to hurt them.”
“You know who my father is,” she reminds me, watching as I remove the saddle and lead Papasote inside his stall. “There were plenty of times where people harassed me over decisions he made in D.C.”
“Now take that and multiply it by ten — thousand —“and that’s what it’s like for me.”
“You call me Princesa , but it seems only one of us has the life of a royal.”
“You’re going to be treated like royalty now, too. So please don’t ask me not to have them on the property, because I never want to say no to you. But I can make sure you don’t see them, and they don’t enter the house.”
We stare at each other for a moment, like some sort of standoff. I see one of the ranch hands approaching, likely to take Mami’s horse out to stretch her legs. Taina glances back to see him headed our way too.
“Do you understand, Taina?” I ask, only comfortable moving on from the conversation if we’re on the same page.
“Yes, Emiliano,” she answers, her brows drawn.
I reach down to take her hand, using my free one to wave at Pablo .
He tips his hat, and we walk past him to head toward the main house.
“Now let’s go get your car, Princesa .”