I was conflicted about our friendship, and I had to know where we stood. What would happen between us from that moment on? Would we still be friends? Would we be more? We'd just taken things to a whole new level that friends didn't typically do, and I didn't know what to hope for. "Gary ...can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"What are we? Like ...are we still friends, or ... more?"

He stared at me with a warm smile in silence, just for a moment. "I think we both know we can't be just friends anymore, given what we just did together."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"What I do know, though, is that I'd like to develop this new bond between us. You know, with me as your Master and you as my sub. But it'd be more than that. I'd appreciate it if from now on you don't be intimate with anyone else. Because I can assure you I won't."

My heart flipped from Gary's words, and they put a stronger smile on my face. "I've never been a sub before."

"You were just one a moment ago. You let it out naturally because you knew it was how you felt you should be with me. My sub. And you made me proud and happy. You know, as your Master, I'm not a mean jerk, nor am I unfair or sadistic. I'm more than capable of showing love to my sub, and when I love, I really love. As long as you agree to our new relationship, you'll see it for yourself. I don't play games. All I ask is that you obey me with love and respect, and I can promise you the rewards will be bigger than you can imagine. I may be above you in title and dominance, but we're still equal as humans, and you'd be one with me if we were together."

I felt so much sincerity coming from Gary's eyes and voice, the way he focused on me without an ounce of reluctance. He was confident and knew exactly what he wanted, and I felt all of that. I knew he could say whatever he wanted, but I also believed he wasn't the type to do so. I couldn't figure out why that was except that I was able to trust him more easily than I'd thought.

Gary sighed. "Santiago, you're a very special guy. I feel so lucky to have met you. That's why I want you to take your time and figure out if this is the kind of relationship you'd like and would be able to handle. I don't want to force anything on you. Yeah, we might have acted out our roles a moment ago for our pleasure, but I don't want you to feel like you signed a contract or something. Take your time. We can continue as friends for now until you're ready to tell me what you want."

I wanted him so badly, yet I wondered if I should think about his offer some more.

"But do know this. I'm not and never will be vanilla. I don't do normal relationships like most people do. I mean, I have before, but not anymore. My longest relationship lasted two years, and it wasn't vanilla at all. All the others were vanilla and lasted much, much shorter, not even close to my longest. This is just who I am, Santiago. I can't change my lifestyle and I won't. It took a while for me to embrace it." Oddly enough, he still struggled with his sexuality, but I kept that thought to myself.

"I understand." I wasn't really disappointed or upset about it. I was more confused as to how I'd handle it since I found Gary's lifestyle intriguing and scary at the same time.

"We can, of course, still be friends if that's what you prefer, and I'll respect your decision. But if that's the case, we can't be intimate like we were for a moment ago. What we did together wouldn't happen again. You were an exception because of my strong feelings for you, but I never, ever do that with anyone I'm not involved with on an intimate level. So again, take your time to decide and let me know when you're ready."

I nodded, realizing that Gary was being fair and made a lot of sense. I wanted him with me and was so sure of it, much more sure than ever before. At the same time, I had to think long and hard about becoming his sub, if it was something I was ready for as a long-term commitment.