Normally, what he loves is a lot of kissing and very gentle sex, in various positions. He is anything but dominant in his nature.
My first reaction to this was surprise because it is not common for men to be this way inclined. Women get more aroused by kissing and stroking and gentle sex in general than men do. This is not a bad thing, just something unusual and noteworthy. It certainly does support the theories here that he has sub tendencies and one thing that occurs to me is that I sometimes say I like sex like this because I think that is what my partner wants because I am trying to please her (latent sub tendencies there). Just something to think about. It may be worth him analysing this preference of his to see what the root of it is - his own arousal or what he thinks will arouse you?

One thing to consider, however, is that BDSM does not always mean rough. You don't have to beat someone nor do you need to do what some seem to think 'being dominant' is which is shouting and swearing. Ok, some do do the 'on your knees bitch and suck my cock or I'll whip your fucking ass' scenario and there is nothing wrong with that. However, you can also play it in a sensual and gentle manner and still be dominant. For this you need to foster the strong, silent demeanour - speak softly or whisper, move slowly but deliberately, communicate by other means than verbal (eye contact, gestures, gentle touches) and generally give across the impression of being dominant. My training has taught me that if you get to point of shouting you have lost control and so dominance of another must first start with dominance of oneself.

You could try playing the sensual guessing game with him. This game could be played by each of you on different occasions (because one way to solve your problem may be to take it in turns to be Dominant) but we'll assume he is doing this to you.

First, he ties you up - naked with arms and legs to the bedposts so you are completely exposed and restrained. Then you are blindfolded. At this point he pulls out the bag or other container that he has hidden under the bed where you cannot see it or what is in it. In the bag will be a variety of objects with different textures and materials. It could be scraps of cloth (wool, leather, PVC, linen, silk etc), it could be sex toys, it could be food stuffs, it could be anything you find around the house such as pens, paper, feathers, wooden spoons etc. He then begins to stroke these objects over your flesh - start in the less sensitive places and work around the body. Cover the abdomen, breasts, nipples, lips, inner thighs, parts of the vagina and so on. Your goal is to identify the object and describe as best you can from this sensation (it is remarkably difficult, BTW). If you are successful in a time he considers reasonable, you get a reward - a short time of caressing or cunilinguis or something nice. If wrong, you get a punishment - a spanking or something else (maybe a few minutes wearing nipple clamps, a whipping, whatever though these are advanced things). You play this game until you run out of objects or he gets bored enough to try something else (like fuck you in the way he enjoys which is possible using this method...).

So, you can see how you could easily be both sensual (slow with lots of kissing and caressing) and Dominant at the same time...

Oh, and I still consider 1.5 years to be newly weds... given that I was living in sin for 6 years (with the woman I married, lived in sin with several other women before that point) before we got married and we have been married for 5 or so years now... I am sure you still have the 'new husband smell' These little problems can be resolved and it is still early days.