Better Luck Next Time Carter

This story was written for the 750 Word Project 2025, below this line are exactly 750 words.

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Alex Vlahos knew boredom was dangerous. The office hummed with late-evening quiet, phones silent, associates long gone. The hour between the end of business and complete solitude was a hazardous time for bad decisions. Her gaze flicked toward Ben Carter.

Six weeks in, and he still looked like a lost lamb among wolves. Bright but awkward, always apologising. His suits were slightly off, too loose in the shoulders, sleeves too long like he hadn't quite grown into them yet. She watched him scribble in his notebook, jaw tight with concentration and smiled to herself. Time to play.

"Carter."

He jolted, big brown eyes snapping up like he'd been caught watching porn in a meeting.

Alex stood, smoothing her blouse as she moved toward him. She deliberately slowed just before reaching his desk, letting him register the scent of her perfume, the soft click of her heels. "I need something from you."

He swallowed hard. "Y-yes?"

She tilted her head. He looked ready to bolt. But he didn't. Good boy.

Benny was going to die.

She was too close. The heat of her body, the scent of her perfume, it short-circuited something in his brain.

"I think you work too hard, Carter," Alex murmured, low, smooth. "You ever take a break?"

"I, uh," His throat locked. His skin burned.

Her fingers brushed his tie, light but deliberate. "Relax."

She tugged him gently forward, and suddenly, he was against her desk, her hands at his belt, her breath warm against his jaw.

"Oh," he whispered, half horror, half thrill.

A chuckle, warm and knowing.

She undid his belt with practised ease and unzipped him agonisingly slow.

Then, her knuckles grazed him, and he was steel in her hand.

She let out a small, pleased hum, fingers hovering just above the thick ridge pressing insistently against the fabric of his briefs. "Well, look at you." Her tone was more appraisal than surprise, but there was a flicker of something else, amusement, curiosity, maybe even approval.

Benny swallowed hard.

She traced one finger along the length, feeling the heat, the almost imperceptible pulse. "You're fucking throbbing." She said it like an observation, like she'd noted a well-crafted legal argument, but then her thumb pressed, just slightly, just enough to feel the tension beneath the cotton. "Tell me, Carter, are you this eager for everyone or just me?"

His hips twitched, and she smiled.

Her nails skimmed the waistband, teasing, like she was considering whether or not to free him. "Thin, but long and hard." She exhaled, her breath warm against his throat. "Maybe I should take my time, drag my nails down the shaft, watch you fight to keep still."

Benny wasn't breathing. His chest barely moved, his entire body locked in place, waiting.

She ran a single fingertip along the ridge. He gasped. A tremor rolled through him, his hips jerking forward involuntarily.

Then, a sharp pulse, a tightening, and just like that, the dam broke.

"Oh," he exhaled, horrified.

Alex blinked. Silence.

His entire soul left his body.

Alex had been prepared for many outcomes. This was not one of them.

She let the moment breathe. She exhaled through her nose, slow, deliberate. Benny made a noise that wasn't even human. Alex reached down and, without ceremony, zipped him back up.

"There." She patted his cheek, gentle, amused, utterly unbothered. "You're sorted."

Benny looked like he'd been shot. "I..."

"Take a breath, Carter. You'll live."

He made a noise, a strangled mess of humiliation and lingering arousal.

Alex folded her arms, watching him flounder. She wasn't cruel, but she wasn't going to let him run either. Poor thing looked like he might cry. Or burst into flames.

Finally, he managed, "I... oh, God."

She tapped a manicured finger against her chin. "Mmm. 'Thank you' seems appropriate."

A strangled sound. "Thank you?"

"For the learning experience."

He stared at her, completely wrecked. That would be a shame. Alex sighed, tilting her head. "Tell you what."

He swallowed. "What?"

She smirked. "I believe in second chances."

Benny froze. "...Second?" His voice cracked.

She leaned in again, just enough to let the scent of her, the heat of her, the absolute inevitability of her settle around him.

"Go home. Take a breath. Get your head on straight."

He nodded too quickly.

"Next time, Carter." She let the words sink in, watching his pupils blow wide.

Then, with a smirk that had melted far better men than him, she added, "Try to last a little longer."