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Someone is in bed with him.
His first thought is: Nathan. He’s back in the compound. It was all a dream. A tease. No one is going to save him. Nathan isn’t another man named Travis. Freedom isn’t right around the corner. He's hurting because he's been raped. He's hungry because he's being starved. His eyes hurt because all he fucking does is cry.
Then his senses catch up with his racing thoughts and assure him that there’s no way this is the compound. This isn’t what Nathan smells like – lavender and tea tree oil and cinnamon in place of expensive cologne and scotch - and these certainly aren’t the fancy silk sheets of the bed they once shared.
But the body beside him isn't a stranger. It's intimately familiar. Even the simple feel of the chest rising and falling beneath his cheek. The soft, steady thud of a heartbeat. The calloused hand cupping his bare hip. The whisper-soft fingertips that are stroking along his spine. It all causes the same sensation as the opening chords to a favorite song coming on the radio or the feeling of your favorite tattered book when you take it off the shelf for another re-read.
Harry Potter, Carter realizes.
The score of music and the upset young man - they're coming from a Harry Potter movie that must be playing.
And this isn’t Nathan beside Carter because Nathan isn't real, but it’s the same body Carter knows so well. The same touch.
It's Travis.
But how-
Carter winces as memories catch up with him. He put Travis’s number down when that dom from the club asked him to choose someone as an emergency contact. Then Carter finally managed to have a successful sexual experience – with a pretty decent orgasm even – only to get triggered by a simple word and end up needing rescuing.
What the fuck was he thinking, putting Travis down?
He’s an absolute idiot.
The fingers making their way along Carter’s skin slow before coming to a stop just above Carter’s bare ass.
“You awake?” Travis asks, his voice thick and worried.
“Yes,” Carter whispers, keeping his eyes squeezed firmly shut. It’s much safer that way. “Um. Hi.”
Travis chuckles. “Hi. How are you feeling?”
“Stupid, mostly.” Carter carefully opens his eyes to test the waters. With his cheek on Travis’s chest, it’s a safe enough move. All he can see is the TV that’s playing a Harry Potter movie. The fourth one he thinks, but he’s still waking up so he’ll have to reassess in a minute.
“Don’t feel stupid. You got triggered. That happens. I’m just - well, I’m very glad you were with someone like the man you were with. He’s… a good dom. He did good by you.”
The words wrap around Carter’s chest and squeeze. Or maybe it’s the sad jealousy in Travis’s voice that does the squeezing. “He called you, I’m guessing?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know why I put your name down. I should have put Casey’s, but I just…” Carter sighs. “I think maybe in the back of my head I wanted it to be you, you know? If something happened and he needed to use that number, I wanted it to be you to come for me. But I didn’t think it’d actually happen.”
“Well, I’m not glad it happened, but I’m glad it was me you put down.” Travis shifts beneath him, tightening his hold on Carter. “Is he - I mean, are the two of you… together?”
Carter shakes his head. “No. I just met him.”
“Should I lecture you about how unsafe that is, or save it for later?”
“I think I went about it safely. I went to an event and met a really nice dom and his pet, and they helped me connect with this guy. It was pretty clear to everyone there he was bringing me home, so I figured it would be stupid of him to do anything to me, you know? Plus, I texted Casey his license plate and his address, and Casey knew I'd be coming home later so he knew to call you guys if I didn't show."
“Fair enough.” Unless it’s Carter’s imagination, Travis’s heartbeat picks up speed. The man’s hand flexes where it’s resting on Carter’s hip. His next exhale comes out shaky. “I’m sorry, Carter.”
"For?"
"For being the man who called you sweetheart."
Carter's heart sinks, grief wrapping around it like an anchor. "How do you know that's what triggered me?"
"I made him tell me everything that happened. I figured it was a good guess."
