"Don't worry, Mikey. You'll do great," Luc assures me and squeezes my hands that he's tightly holding on to. My eyes are fixed on his fingers. It's funny how I've gotten used to avoiding eye contact at all costs and keeping my gaze cast downwards. Luc's another submissive, but he helped a lot with my training which made him a master in my eyes.

He leans forward in his chair to place a kiss on my head, bringing his face close to my field of vision. There's the usual anticipation that comes from wanting to read his facial expression yet not being allowed to, and it turns into a dread as the silence stretches between us while I have to wait for his words.

I briefly wonder whether my posture is displeasing him, then quickly check myself. Head bowed, back straight. My legs are parallel to each other, and my toes are painfully pushing against the parquet floor because I'm not allowed to curl them. My butt is resting on my heels, not my ankles. Position-wise, I should be doing great.

But still, the awful silence remains, making me overly aware of my loud breathing. I try to slow it down, make it more shallow so not to disturb the silence that Luc is certainly allowing deliberately.

"Perfect, Mikey. I'm so proud of you."

The sudden praise lifts the tension, and I instantly feel my muscles loosen as I heave a relieved breath. Luc squeezes my hands again before getting to his feet and pulling me onto mine as well. I guess this is it. I'm finally about to meet Gavrilo Kemp and all I can do is pray that my hard work is going to pay off.

"Are you nervous?"

"A little bit, Ma-" I barely stop myself from addressing him as Master. Luc has made it clear that he is not going to take on that role for me any longer, and while I am supposed to practice my submissive position even in his presence, I am no longer allowed to treat him as my dominant.

"Please excuse the slip-up, sir," I apologize stiffly, using the title we had agreed on instead. Usually, a punishment would follow; one designed to encourage proper discipline and not to bring me pleasure. When I had entered the scene, I had kind of expected to have my ass whipped and fucked at every opportunity, but so far, no one has laid hands on me.

Today, though, Luc was being lenient since we were short on time.

"It's alright, you're nervous. After all, you might actually get yourself a dom tonight," Luc whistles and hops off towards the door, waving for me to follow. I look down at my naked body, wondering when I have stopped minding being exposed like this.

When I had first stripped down on the stage, the feeling of the doms' eyes on me had pushed the air from my lungs. I wouldn't have been able to meet their gazes had I been instructed to do so, and I had been glad for the spotlight that had blinded me and turned the onlookers into a sea of dark frames. Usually, I am very confident in my disguises, yet at that moment, I had been afraid they might be seeing right past it.

I had been exposed in a way that had been unknown to me before. Afterwards, being in the club had been so much more awkward since I had literally been waiting for someone to point out what a lousy conman I was. Nothing even close to that had happened, though. Instead, I had been praised for my composure and welcomed to the club.

Two months later, Gavrilo Kemp announced that he was looking for a new sub. Of course, that wasn't news to me. I had known that there had been sort of a fallout between Gavrilo and his sub, which had been the reason for me to enter the scene in the first place. I had been hoping to be ready when the man started looking for a new sub, but when I voiced my interest, Luc instantly shot down my hopes.

Therefore, Gavrilo had taken on another sub who wasn't me, then the next, and almost four months later, he was still looking for something a little more permanent. To my surprise, Luc asked his master to let it slip that I was about as ready as I would ever be, and Gavrilo has actually requested a meeting.

Yes, requested. I have received a formal letter via the club asking me to offer myself to him as his sub. He has also kindly elaborated that he is well aware of my lack of experience and that he would love to be my first true master, the one that owns me not only in training but in body and soul, each day and night of my life.

My heartbeat quickens when I remember the handwritten words. I never dared to ask Luc what his master had told Gavrilo about me, though I am certainly interested. The man has verbally prostrated himself despite being not only a rich, irresistibly handsome dominant, but also a real-life crime boss. The paradox confuses me, and it also forces up my guard. After all, I readied myself for a cold-hearted killer; now I can't allow his tenderness to fool me.

What also disturbs me is the commitment he is asking of me. Of course, this is all an act, and I would leave it to Mike to make it believable, yet I still feel forced to consider his proposition. He has asked for my trust like a man would usually for a woman's hand in marriage, and he has vowed to respect my wishes and boundaries.

Gavrilo Kemp had sounded genuinely interested in a bond so deep that it scares the shit out of me.

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Hey there! Thank you for checking out TM :D How do you like it so far? What do you think of the set-up?

XOXO

T.