Conflicted Afterplay

I've been with my partner for two years now, and we're both pretty adventurous when it comes to sex. We try out different role-plays, kinks, and scenarios that keep things interesting between us. Last week, though, I brought up something new... or rather, an old fantasy that had never come to fruition until recently. You see, for as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by the idea of a master-slave dynamic. The power play, the submission, it was all so captivating in my imagination. But there was always this hesitation too, would my partner be okay with something like that? Would they find it offensive or just plain weird? So we started off small, playing around with some light dominance and even some light physical restraints during our more playful sessions. It's been fun and sexy but didn't really scratch the surface of what I was actually fantasizing about. That's when things got a bit dicey. One night, after having an extra glass or two of wine, I brought up my long-held fantasy again. And this time, instead of holding back or being vague, I went straight to the point and described it in vivid detail: The safe word, the collar, the commands, all of it. I watched their expression carefully as I talked, trying to gauge if they were into it too, but there was a hesitation. They listened without interrupting, which gave me hope... But then came the silence after my confession, and that's when everything got complicated. We decided to table the idea for now, agreeing to revisit the conversation at some point. I've been turning this over in my head ever since, did I make a mistake bringing it up? Should we have given ourselves more time before diving into something like this? And then there are all these other questions nagging away: What if they think of me differently now? Will this change the way we look at each other? ...It's a lot to process, and honestly, I'm not sure what comes next. We've been close for so long but there's suddenly this wall between us. Or maybe it was always there, just hidden behind all the affectionate touches and loving looks. I feel guilty about pushing things forward without really getting their full consent on such a big step. But I also can't deny that part of me wants to explore this more deeply, what if we had been honest with each other from the start? ...