How I met my submissive 2: Fantastic submissives and where to find them

I have five maxims that have served me well so far. The first and most important: "don't get attached to a submissive unless they’re already attached to you." It has saved my ass more times than I can count - there are too many submissives out there who just want to be fucked, pissed on, and humiliated, and then, when the heat of the moment passes, they leave, leaving you with a long face and a broken heart.

The second is equally crucial: "always maintain control of the situation." Because a dominant who loses control is like a clown without makeup - pathetic and a bit sad. And the third, my favorite: "start hard and slowly ease off." There's nothing like watching a submissive gradually relax when they realize you're not the bastard you seemed at first.

The problem is that Alex is testing all my damn maxims.

I had brought Alex back to my office, whom I affectionately call "the rat." I tell everyone it’s because he’s narrow and elongated, even though I’m the only one of the 45 of us in the department with a private office, and I shouldn't complain, but really it’s because, due to how the desks are arranged and how narrow it is, if someone sits at the computer and another person next to them, the first can't leave the office without making physical contact with the second.

Alex was sitting in front of me, with that typical way of his of slightly tilting his head while listening, as if every word coming out of my mouth was incredibly important.

“So, what do you think of the new programming I’ve made?” he asked, his fingers nervously fiddling with the mug.

“A confederate shit, like 90% of the proposals that come to me,” I replied, because it was true. “They don’t understand that resources need to be optimized, not wasted on nonsense. But yours at least is heading in the right direction.”

The blush that appeared on his cheeks almost made me forget my maxims. Almost.

“Do you want me to review it again?” he asked, so helpful I had to suppress a grunt. Because yes, I wanted him to review something, but it wasn’t exactly the damn proposal.

“Go ahead,” I replied, leaning back in my chair. It’s a calculated move, one that gives me a more dominant position and, as I’ve noticed, always makes Alex a bit more nervous. Like now.

“Well, you see…” he starts explaining something about how Azure works. I know five times more than he does about Azure, and I think he’s saying things wrong, but my attention is on how his fingers nervously play with the edge of the folder. It’s one of his tells, as a poker player would say. When he’s nervous, he always looks for something to touch.

And speaking of tells... I decide to do a little experiment.

“Alex,” I interrupt him, using my "serious boss" voice, the one I’ve noticed makes him tense in a very particular way. “Would you mind coming closer? The company laptop is crap and I can’t see anything from the other side of the table.”

As I expected, he immediately stands up. So obedient, so eager to please... and walks right into the rat.

“Here,” I say, pointing to a spot on my computer screen. “Do you see this database usage?”

“Yes, sir,” he replies, and he’s so close I can see the hair on his neck slightly stand up when I speak. “It’s what I was trying to explain to you about the behavior…”

“Mmm,” I murmur, allowing my voice to drop a bit lower than necessary. The slight tremor in his breath is all the confirmation I need. “And what do you suggest we do about it?”

He turns slightly to look at me and, for a moment, our faces are too close. I see how his pupils dilate, how he briefly holds his breath. He’s so obviously affected that it almost hurts.

“I…” he starts, and his voice comes out a little hoarse. He clears his throat and takes a small step back. “I think we should adjust the strategy…”

“Adjust what exactly? The database that’s in the cloud, even though only 20 people in the same building consult it?” I ask, keeping my gaze fixed on him. It’s cruel, I know, but I need to see how far I can push him.

“The... the strategy of…” he’s struggling to maintain his professional composure, and it’s fascinating to watch. “Sorry, sir, would you mind if I opened the window? It’s a bit hot in here.”

I suppress a smile. “Go ahead.” The window was on his side, after all.

“Where were we?” I ask innocently, as if I didn’t know exactly what I was doing.

“Well, maybe we shouldn’t use Azure and keep everything physical,” he replies, defeated, and the slight tremor in his voice confirms that this is going exactly where I want it to go.

“Don’t be a wuss, Alex,” I said, closely watching his reaction. “Try doing that and we’ll see the results in three months.”

His body tensed slightly at my comment, but not in the way I expected. Was it fear I saw in his eyes? Shit. My protective side threatened to surface, but I ruthlessly suppressed it. It wasn’t the time to be soft.

“Does it bother you that I use that word?” I asked, leaning forward. One more test.

“No, sir, not at all,” he responded too quickly, too formally. Adorable liar.

“Good, because I’m quite blunt in my speech and I have no intention of changing.” I leaned back in my chair, spreading my legs like a “manspreader” on the subway until my foot ‘accidentally’ brushed against his under the table. He didn’t pull away. Interesting.

“I know, sir,” he murmured, and damn, that ‘sir’ pronounced with such submission made me clench my jaw to maintain control.

“You know?” I raised an eyebrow. “And what else do you know about me, Alex?”

His eyes widened slightly, like a doe caught in the headlights of a car. “I... just that you’re very direct. And efficient.” He paused. “And a bit intimidating.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Am I intimidating you, Alex?”

“Sometimes,” he admitted, and for a moment I imagined hugging him from behind, whispering in his ear that no one was going to hurt him while I was around, that he could relax and be himself... I pushed that image out of my mind with a mental smack.

“You shouldn’t let anyone intimidate you,” I said, my voice softer than I intended. I wanted to say it with a threatening air, like leaving a “Except me” hanging, but my protective side had come out like a damn buoy in the ocean and I sounded like I was going to cradle him. “At least not at work,” I tried to correct.

He looked at me confused and nervous, probably wondering why the tyrant of his boss suddenly sounded almost... kind. And he had reason to be confused, because I didn’t even know what the hell I was doing myself.

Shit. My third maxim echoed in my head: start hard and slowly ease off. But with Alex, everything was the opposite - every time I eased off, he became more nervous, as if he didn’t know what to do with a boss who wasn’t ruthless.

“Enough for today, right?” I asked brusquely as I passed my entire arm and armpit three centimeters in front of his face to close the window he had just opened.

Poor Alex nearly hit his head against the shelf trying to pull his head back, but I had to do it because I was losing control.

“Maxim 2, M, Maxim 2.” I mentally went over my maxims. I was violating almost all of them with this kid, and that scared me more than all the executive meetings combined.

“Shit,” I murmured to myself, while I was totally oblivious to how Alex was trying to escape the rat, squirming in a thousand ways and practically crawling to avoid making me stand up or touch me. “I’m getting attached.”