I am Fatima, the woman who rules every inch of this farm with an iron fist, the owner of everything within sight. Everyone here sees me as a woman of iron, cold and untouchable, but they have no idea of the fire that burns beneath these expensive silk dresses.”
“That morning, the heat was unbearable. And my loneliness was even greater than the sun outside. That’s when I made the most dangerous decision of my life. I summoned the strongest slave in Lida and ordered him to serve me breakfast, but on a condition that no one would ever dare to imagine. I wanted to taste the forbidden and demanded that he enter my chambers completely naked, just to satisfy my curiosity and my desire to see how far my power could go.”
“Look, I need to open my heart and tell you what happened that morning, because the silence of those stone walls began to suffocate me in a way I could no longer bear. This is how I am, Fatima, to the outside world. I am the sole owner of every hectare of this land. The woman who commands hundreds of souls with a simple wave of her hand and who has never bowed her head to any man in this province.”
“But when the sun starts to peek through the slats of the rosewood shutters in my room, the reality is different. I woke up surrounded by sheets of the purest linen. The kind of luxury that only money and power can buy. But what I felt was an emptiness so profound that no amount of wealth in the world seemed capable of filling it.”
“My husband passed away years ago, and with him went any trace of warmth from that enormous bed. There I was, a woman in the prime of my life, my skin still firm and desires pulsing beneath my silk nightgown, but treated by everyone like a piece of marble, beautiful, but cold and untouchable.”
“That morning, the heat was already starting to take its toll even before 8 a.m. The air was still, heavy with the scent of damp earth and orange blossoms. But what struck me was a different smell coming from the Lida courtyard, a smell of sweat, of effort, of rough life. I stood up slowly, feeling the silk slide down my legs, and walked to the balcony.”
“From there, I watched the men begin the hard work, and that’s when my eyes met his. His name was Chico, but to everyone there he was just the slave who took care of the most difficult horses. He was imposing, a veritable mountain of muscle sculpted by work under the merciless sun. His skin glistened, covered in a thin layer of sweat that reflected the morning light, as if he were made of bronze.”
“He didn’t have the hunched posture of the others. There was something wild and untamed in the way he moved, a force that seemed to vibrate with every step. I felt a tug in my lower abdomen that made me lose my breath for a second. A bold, almost forbidden thought began to take shape in my mind.”
“Why did I, the owner of all this, have to live under the rules of a society that wanted me to be holy and solitary? I decided at that exact moment that, for the first time in my life, I would do what I wanted, no matter the cost. I wanted to feel the danger. I wanted to experience what was forbidden for a woman of my position.”
“I went back inside the room, my heart pounding against my ribs. My hand trembled slightly as I pulled the bell rope to summon my trusted maid. When she entered, head bowed and silent, I gave the order that would change the fate of that house forever. My voice came out firm, laden with the authority of someone who doesn’t accept questions, but inside I was pure fire.”
“Tell Chico to leave Lida right now. I gave the order without taking my eyes off the gold-framed mirror that reflected my own thirst. Tell him to bathe in the river and come immediately to my chambers. He’ll bring me my breakfast personally today.”
“And tell him, in no uncertain terms, that he must come in here without a single piece of clothing. I want it to serve me exactly as nature intended. Go.”
“I chose the strongest, most rugged, most imposing man on that farm for a task no one had ever dreamed of. Today, Fatima would not only be the owner of the land. She would be the one to possess the forbidden pleasure that this man carried in every fiber of his being. Look, I couldn’t sleep a wink after the order was given.”
“I went back out onto the balcony, hidden behind the jasmine vines, to observe the courtyard one last time before that door opened. The sun was already high, beating down on the earth, and the glare coming from below was almost blinding, but nothing shone brighter than his skin. Bento was there. He had just received the message and, for a moment, he stopped everything he was doing.”
“I saw him drop the tool and look towards the mansion, towards my window. Even from a distance, I felt the impact of that gaze. He did not lower his head as the others did out of fear. He seemed to be trying to see through the walls, trying to understand what Fatima wanted with him at that hour.”
“He was the true predator on that farm, even though he was the captive. His shoulders were so broad that they seemed to carry the weight of my entire inheritance without the slightest effort. Every time he moved, the muscles in his back were visible beneath his dark skin, creating a play of shadows that made me dizzy. His skin, anointed with sweat and the oil of his labor, reflected the golden sun in a way that none of my jewels kept in the safe could match.”
“I own all of this. I own the land, the cattle, the crops, and, by right of law, I owned him as well. But observing him from there, I realized that my power was an illusion compared to the force of nature he represented. I felt a hunger that wasn’t for food, a thirst that even the most expensive coffee in the province wouldn’t be able to quench.”
“I made the final decision as I watched him walk towards the river to bathe, as I had instructed. My sanctuary, that room where no one entered without my permission, where the scent of incense and lavender hid the smell of my loneliness, was about to be invaded by the most brutal and masculine presence I had ever dared to desire.”
“I didn’t want a servant, I wanted the predator. I wanted him to walk in there with all that imposing presence, without the constraints of clothing, so that I could finally see what it was like to have absolute control over something so untamable. My heart pounded in my chest as I closed the balcony curtains, leaving the room in semi-darkness.”
“The stage was set. I lay down again, adjusting the silk of the nightgown that insisted on highlighting my desire. And I waited. I knew that from the moment Bento walked through that door completely naked, Fatima would never be the same woman again. I was about to open the doors of my sanctuary to danger, and the thought of being devoured by that gaze made me tremble in a way that power never could.”
“Look, I ‘ll never forget the expression on my maid’s face, Rosa’s, when I gave the order. I was sitting at the dressing table, pretending to touch up my hairstyle, but my hands were shaking so much that the ivory comb almost slipped through my fingers. I called her with a firm whisper, one that doesn’t allow for any gasp of protest.”
“As she approached, I stared intently at her reflection in the mirror and said, word for word, what I wanted. I ordered that the coffee be served in my room, but that she wouldn’t be the one to bring it; it would be Bento, and that was his demand.”
“Rosa, tell him he should bathe in the river and come immediately, but he must enter here with nothing on, no shirt, no pants, not a single rag covering his skin. I want him to serve me coffee completely naked, exactly as he came into the world.”
“Go.”
“I sat there in the dim light, listening to the sound of her footsteps fading down the wooden hallway. I knew that at that moment, news of my madness or whim was descending the stairs, crossing the courtyard, and reaching the slave quarters and the horse herding.”
“I could imagine Bento hearing that order, his shock, the surprise of being summoned by the mistress of everything for such an intimate and humiliating task, yet so charged with forbidden electricity. I wanted him to know I was in control, but deep down I knew that my demand that he come with nothing to hide was, in fact, my own way of undressing before him.”
“I was removing the masks of the powerful woman to reveal the hungry woman who lived beneath those silks. My unexpected command was the first step on a path of no return. Now time seemed to have stopped. Each passing minute, while I waited for the sound of the door opening, felt like an eternity. I was burning.”
“Out of curiosity, imagining his reaction, my body could no longer hide how much the idea of seeing him naked, vulnerable yet imposing, completely overwhelmed me. Time in that room seemed to drag on. Each second dragged on, and the silence was so profound I could hear the ticking of the wall clock in the dining room, as if it were counting my own heartbeats.”
“I lay there, my head buried in the lace pillows, trying to maintain the posture of someone just waiting for breakfast. But the truth is, I was a bundle of nerves beneath the silk nightgown— the one I chose precisely because it was almost transparent against the light—my body could no longer pretend. I felt a constant throbbing, an anxiety that transformed into a damp heat between my thighs.”
“I ran my hand over the sheet, feeling the cold linen, trying to calm myself, but the idea of what was about to cross that door set me ablaze. That’s when I heard the first creak in the wood. From the hallway. They weren’t the light, quick steps of Rosa or the other maids. They were heavy, slow steps, laden with a presence that made the structure of the mansion vibrate.”
“Thump thump thump. Each beat of that bare foot on the wooden floor echoed within my chest, as if he were walking directly upon my soul. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to control my breathing, which was already short, shallow, betraying my state. I knew he was coming. I could imagine Bento crossing the dark corridors of the big house, passing through the closed doors of the other rooms, being the only man, and a completely naked man, to dare walk there at that hour.”
“The audacity of my own order gave me a shiver of pleasure. I was defying everything—morality, religion, the law—everything because of that sound, that imminent approach. The footsteps stopped exactly in front of my door. The silence that followed was torturous. I remained motionless, my eyes fixed on the bronze doorknob, feeling the sweat slowly trickle down my face.”
“My neck, disappearing into the neckline of my nightgown. I knew he was standing there on the other side of the wood, holding the tray, waiting for the moment to enter and change my life forever. I was like that, Fatima, the owner of that entire farm, but at that moment, waiting for him, I felt like the most vulnerable and thirsty person in the world.”
“The bronze doorknob turned with a slowness that seemed to last an eternity, and the soft creak of the door opening was the signal that my world, as I knew it, had just crumbled. The silence that followed was absolute, dense enough that I could hear the sound of my own pulse hammering in my ears. And then he entered.”
“I remained lying down, but my eyes were fixed on the figure crossing the threshold of my room. Bento took two steps forward and stopped, keeping his head held high, holding the heavy silver tray with impressive firmness. He was exactly as I had ordered, completely naked, without rags, without restraints, without anything to hide the brute strength that nature had given him. It hit me.”
“The visual impact was a punch to the gut. His stature was even more overwhelming than I could have imagined when observing him from afar on the balcony. Up close, under the light filtered through the curtains, his skin looked like polished ebony, still slightly damp from his bath in the river, which made each muscle fiber gleam with a dangerous vigor.”
“His shoulders were broad, creating a silhouette that dominated the entire space of my sanctuary. I scanned every detail with my eyes, feeling an unbearable heat rise through my body. His chest was broad, his arms were thick as jacaranda trunks. And his belly was firm, marked by the effort of Lida. But what truly took my breath away was the naturalness with which he carried that nakedness. There was no shame in him.”
“There was a wild dignity that made me feel, for the first time in my life, that I wasn’t in control of the situation, despite being in command. He remained there motionless like a bronze statue, the silver tray contrasting violently with the deep color of his skin. His presence filled the air with a scent of a man, of a river, and of a masculinity so raw it made the silk of my nightgown feel like a burden against my already goosebumped skin.”
“I, like Fatima, stood before the masterpiece of my own audacity, and the desire consuming me was so real I feared he could hear the silent scream of my body. Look, at that moment, the distance between the door and my bed seemed like an abyss I myself had dug, and now I was falling into it without any resistance. My eyes, always haughty and controlling, completely lost their way.”
“I tried to focus on the tray, the coffee pot, or the fruit, but my gaze was drawn like a magnet to the immensity of that dark skin that seemed to absorb all the light in the room. I made a superhuman effort to maintain the pose of a mistress, to remind myself that I was Fatima and that he was just another possession of the farm.”
“But how could I maintain authority when every tense muscle of that man screamed a strength I could never possess? The sight of him… Standing there in that absolute and imposing nakedness took my breath away in a way that even the tightest corset never could. I felt a lump in my throat. The air seemed to have become denser, charged with the magnetism emanating from him.”
“Come closer.”
“I heard him take his first step, and the sound of his foot touching the carpet near my bed was like thunder in my head. He was coming. The shock of the reality that I had placed a man of that size without any protection inside my most intimate space began to make me tremble beneath the silk. Look, the moment he finally stopped beside my bed was when I realized there was no turning back.”
“Bento leaned his body slowly, with an almost choreographed precision, He placed the silver tray on the mattress, right next to my hip. The weight of the tray made the bed sink slightly, and with that movement, his warmth seemed to leap from his dark skin directly onto mine. The steam rising from the freshly brewed coffee began to mingle with the scent emanating from his body.”
“It wasn’t a common scent; it was a masculine, wild aroma, a mixture of river, wet earth, and the raw essence of a man who spends the day under the sun. This scent invaded my room, expelling the delicate lavender perfume I always wore, and settled in my lungs. I never imagined that the sense of smell could be so sinful.”
“I felt the radiating heat emanating from his close nudity. It was as if he were a lit fireplace in the middle of summer, and I was the melting wax before him. My eyes were fixed on his abdomen, watching his skin rise and fall with calm breathing, contrasting with my chest that rose and fell frantically under my nightgown.”
“His presence there, stripped of everything but his dignity and strength transformed the air in the room. The coffee was there, hot, but the heat that truly burned me came from the proximity of those tense muscles. I was paralyzed, torn between the desire to move away from that overwhelming heat and the uncontrollable urge to burn in it completely.”
“I, Fatima, was being consumed by a fire I myself had started. And the scent of that man was the fuel I needed for my own personal conflagration. Look, the air in the room was so thick I felt I could cut it with a knife. I needed contact, proof that all of this was real and not just a delusion of my feverish mind.”
“With trembling fingers, I reached for the porcelain cup on the tray, but I made no effort to be careful. Purposefully, I let the tips of my fingers brush against the skin on the back of his hand. The electric shock was immediate, a discharge that ran down my arm and shot straight to my abdomen, making me arch my back against the mattress.”
“His skin was warm, firm, and slightly rough, exactly as I imagined the touch of a man who masters the land with his hands would be. I expected him to recoil, to apologize, or to lower his head in submission, but the opposite happened. Bento didn’t move an inch. Instead, he tilted his face slightly and fixed his eyes on mine.”
“He stared at me with a boldness I had never seen in anyone on that farm. There was no fear there. There was a silent challenge, a dark flame that seemed to read each of my forbidden thoughts. That look dared me to go further, to tear away the veil of decency that still separated us. I held the cup, but my attention was entirely on that touch that still burned on my skin and on those eyes that stripped me of all my authority.”
“I, Fatima, the mistress of everything, realized at that moment that my power to command was nothing compared to the courage he had to look at me as an equal, even being there. Completely naked and vulnerable. Look, power is a dangerous thing when mixed with desire. I put the cup back on the tray without even taking a sip and took a deep breath, feeling his scent overwhelm my judgment.”
“I needed to regain control, or at least pretend I still had it. With a slow, authoritative gesture of my hand, I pointed to the center of the room. Turn slowly, Bento. I want to see if you’ve had a proper bath, if you’re presentable enough to serve yours.”
“He obeyed with a calmness bordering on insolence, he took a step back and began to turn his monumental body before me. I analyzed him inch by inch, from top to bottom, as if I were at a market, evaluating an expensive commodity I had just acquired. My eyes traveled over the powerful curve of his shoulders, the deep line of his spine that disappeared at the base of his back, and his solid legs that seemed… Dark marble columns. But inside, the mask of coldness was melting. While my eyes conducted that technical inspection, my heart screamed something else. I didn’t see merchandise; I saw a man overflowing with a force that drew me in like an abyss. Every muscle that moved beneath that ebony skin gave me a crazy, almost uncontrollable urge to abandon the bed, tear my silk, and lose myself in that embrace that seemed capable of breaking and saving me at the same time.”
“I was the owner of the farm, but faced with that raw perfection, I felt small. The inspection was just an excuse to keep looking, to memorize every detail of that body that now haunted my deepest dreams. He finished his turn and stopped again in front of me, his chest rising and falling slowly, waiting for my next command. Look, the silence that followed my inspection was so heavy that I felt the weight of the air on my shoulders.”
“I remained seated on the edge of the bed, the silk of my nightgown brushing against my goosebumped skin, staring at that man who seemed like a force of nature. Confined within four walls. I needed to remind him, and perhaps myself, of the gravity of what was happening. Do you realize the risk we’re taking, Bento?”
“If someone opens this door, if someone even suspects what Fatima is doing in here with you, nothing in this world can save us. I expected him to lower his eyes, to tremble at the mention of danger, or to beg for mercy. But Bento did the opposite. He took a step forward, closing the distance between his nakedness and my trembling body until I could feel the warmth emanating from his chest.”
“He leaned in slightly, and what I heard was a hoarse whisper that made every hair on my body stand on end. Risk is what fuels the fire, siná. The lady rules the land, rules the cattle, and rules my weariness, but her power ends precisely where my desire begins. And in here, in this room, your laws have no power against what my blood is screaming.”
“Those words hit me like a blow. He was openly challenging me, showing that the authority I wielded outside didn’t extend under those sheets. The tension in the room suddenly became unbearable. It was as if the oxygen had been consumed by the electricity that jumped between us. I was his owner.”
“But at that moment, under the weight of his gaze and that audacious confession, I realized I was losing control of everything. Look, the coffee that was cooling on the silver tray was no longer of any importance. The aroma of the drink had been completely drowned out by the scent of life and desire emanating from that man. I no longer wanted the taste of the grains; I wanted the taste of that audacity.”
“My hands, which had previously been trying to hold the cup with dignity, were now spread out on the mattress, feeling the fabric of the sheet burn beneath my touch. Sit down. Sit down and don’t you dare take your eyes off me.”
“He obeyed. His movement was slow, almost a challenge.”
“And when the weight of his monumental body sank to the edge of my mattress, I felt my own posture falter. The visual impact of that raw presence, all that ebony skin and taut muscles, contrasting violently with the delicacy of my silk and lace room, was the most sinful image I had ever seen. It was the most beautiful sin I had ever committed.”
“I, who had always been surrounded by fine china, imported furniture, and people who bowed down before me, had never experienced anything so real and so dangerous. Having that man, free of any constraints, sitting in my most sacred place, was like putting a lion in a glass cage. I knew that at any moment everything could fall apart, but the sight of him there, so close that I could feel the warmth of his skin without even touching him, gave me an ecstasy that no amount of wealth could ever provide.”
“I was fascinated by the way he occupied the space, by the way the light from the candles, which were still lit, played with the contours of his thighs and abdomen. He wasn’t just a man serving me. He was living proof that my freedom began exactly where my morals ended. And at that moment I was willing to burn my entire past to continue enjoying that forbidden sight.”
“Look, the silence of those stone walls seemed to scream my name. A constant reminder that any sum of money from the place could end my reputation and Bento’s life. But caught between the paralyzing fear of being discovered and the overwhelming lust of finally having what I wanted before me, the scale tipped toward the abyss.”
“I was no longer the judge, I was the defendant, left to my own devices. I reached out, feeling the tearing away of that monumental nakedness. When my fingers finally closed around his arm, I felt the firmness of an oak tree. Bento’s skin was like a fire under my touch. I leaned forward, letting his scent, that smell of river and rough man, completely envelop me.”
“The walls of the room, decorated with portraits of ancestors who looked at me disapprovingly, seemed to close in on us, guarding the darkest secret of the Ouro Negro farm. Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”
“I, like Fatima, who always believed I owned every soul and every inch of land in that region, discovered the bitterest and most delicious truth of all.”
“I wasn’t the absolute mistress. In that dimly lit room, surrounded by the luxury that money could buy, I realized that the true owner of the farm was now a slave to a desire that knew no laws or chains. The adrenaline rush of knowing that any step down the corridor could mean my end only fueled the fire.”
“I surrendered to the moment with a hungry urgency, feeling that every second there was worth more than all my years of life and solitude. I was in the arms of the forbidden, and the weight of that physical presence made me feel for the first time that the power to command was insignificant compared to the glory of being possessed by such an indomitable will.”
“Look, the sound of the door closing was almost imperceptible, a soft click that sounded like thunder in the deathly silence of my room. He withdrew with the same wild dignity with which he had entered, without looking back, leaving behind a trail of electricity that still made the hairs on my arms stand on end. Bento left as silently as a shadow, but his presence remained there, ingrained in every inch of silk and every crack in that ancient wood.”
“I stood there, motionless, sitting on the edge of the bed, my eyes fixed on the door that now separated us. The room suddenly seemed immense and cold, despite the sun already beginning to beat down on the windows. The coffee on the silver tray was completely ice-cold, a dark, forgotten stain next to the luxury of my pillows. But the smell, oh, his smell was still everywhere.”
“That scent of river, of warm skin and raw masculinity, lingered in the air, refusing to leave, as if the room itself had been marked by his nakedness. I felt a burning sensation. It wasn’t just my skin, but my soul that burned with a desire I could no longer control. My fingers still held the memory of the firmness of those muscles, and my whole body throbbed, complaining about the absence of that overwhelming heat that almost consumed me.”
“I, like Fatima, the woman everyone thought was made of stone, was there trembling and vulnerable, feeling the weight of the scandal I myself had orchestrated. I knew the walls had ears and that the maids’ stares would be inquisitive when I left, but none of that mattered anymore. As I adjusted my silk nightgown, feeling the emptiness he left behind, an absolute certainty settled in my chest.”
“That wasn’t the end, it was just the beginning of a dangerous routine. I could no longer imagine my mornings without that confrontation, without that monumental vision that challenged my power. Tomorrow the coffee would need to be served in the same way. I knew I was walking on the edge of a precipice, but the taste of that sin was too sweet to give up.”
“I own the farm, but now I knew who owned my awakening.”
