All Flash No Cash (7 page)

“He told me.” How Pete was able to speak
through teeth clamped that tight, CJ had no idea.

She’d just been emotional that day. Had been
since Saturday night when she’d first looked at the drawing. It
was…phenomenal. He had immense talent, but what he’d drawn had been
too painful for her to live with.

On one side of the gas tank, a street view of
Dirty Harry’s Saloon. On the other side, a framed landscape, and in
front of it, her father with a paintbrush. The front fender showed
the town of Deadwood, and the back fender… It choked her up even
now to think about it. A sunset, a long, winding road, leading down
to where Harry’s old bike sat. On the gas tank of the drawing of
her dad’s bike, the word “Memories” was written in cursive.

Then, Monday morning, she’d gone to see
Harry, and he’d been clutching the drawing of her that Pete had
left with him. The staff said he didn’t want to let it go. With her
heart beating fast, she’d sat next to him. “Daddy?” Would he
recognize her?

He held up the drawing. “Do you know CJ?” His
eyes looked into hers, not seeing her at all.

She’d broken down, crying silent tears as her
father stared at the television, holding the drawing tight in his
hands. When she’d gotten home, the school placement counselor
called to ask how things were going with Pete.

And she’d poured out all her concerns.

“All I told him was that your drawing was
good, but it wasn’t what I’d asked for.” The elevator door opened
and she stepped into her apartment, turning on table lamps as she
walked through the living room.

Pete’s bootsteps followed. “You could have
told
me
.” His voice was so quiet, she thought she might have
imagined it.

She turned, searching for the words to
explain why she hadn’t.

He held out the papers. “I redrew them. Just
like you wanted.”

CJ took them and stepped to the dining room
table. As she flipped on the light, she saw him shoving his hands
into his front pockets. Damn. He wasn’t happy.

Using coasters to keep the drawing flat, she
unrolled it on the table. Colorful scenes of the Badlands, Needles
Highway, Mount Rushmore. And animals; buffalo, an eagle, a
rattlesnake, all the animals she’d mentioned. But it looked kind of
hokey. “Glad I didn’t mention coyotes and donkeys.” She tried to
curve up her lips when she looked at him, but it felt
uncomfortable.

Especially when he just stared at her with
those dark, emotionless eyes.

His nostrils flared. “This project goes
toward my final grade. If this drawing doesn’t work for you, I’ll
keep drawing it until you’re satisfied.”

Her lips thinned. She hadn’t realized her
comments to his school would affect his academic standing. “Let me
think about it. I’ll get back to you.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect…” He took his
hands out of his pockets, but they ended up in fists. “I’ll need to
start painting this weekend if I’m gonna finish in time... I’ll go
wait in the garage, if that’s okay, until you’re ready to make a
decision.” With one hand, he gestured toward the drawing. “Whatever
you decide, I’ll need to order the ink by tomorrow to make sure it
gets here on time.”

Even though he’d started his speech saying
with all due respect, she didn’t hear any in his tone, nor see any
in his gaze. “Oh, okay, you’re just going to camp out here until I
make a decision. Is that it?” She shoved her hands onto her hips.
She really, really hated to be pushed. “Is that the professional
way to do this? Is that how they taught you in art school?”

CJ stood her ground even though Pete’s eyes
narrowed and his big body made her roomy apartment look small in
comparison. How had he worked her up into such a temper? Even to
her own ears, she sounded like a complete bitch.

His jaw clenched and he just breathed for a
few seconds. “Perfect. You’re saying that because I want to make
sure I can get the fuc…the darn bike painted in time, I’m
unprofessional?” He took a step toward her. “In my book,
‘unprofessional’ is choosing to talk to your contract worker’s
counselor instead of directly to him.” His voice rose with each
word.

No one called her unprofessional. She gave
her life for her business. “Bullshit.” She stomped toward him, one
index finger leading the way. “My talking to your counselor was
completely appropriate, and you know it.” CJ gave his chest a good
poke. Then another. Then drew back to give him one more.

He grabbed her wrist. “I don’t know what kind
of business school you went to,
ma’am
.” He said the word
like it was sour milk. “But in the real world, people talk to each
other. They don’t go whining to somebody’s boss.” His face and neck
turned a wild shade of red.

Her heart beat fast, her breath puffing in
and out. Holy shit, she wasn’t mad. She was hot and wet for him,
her nipples puckering tight against the fabric of her bra, and
between her legs, her sex pulsed, quick and achy. She didn’t like
the feeling of losing control over her own body. “Grow up, Pete.
This is how the real world runs, and if you’re too sensitive to
take it, maybe it’s time you get out of it and go back to
farming.”

Heavy breaths raced in and out of his mouth,
his grip on her wrist tightened, and he leaned in, way inside her
personal space. “You have no idea what goes on in the real world,
lady. Holed up here in your bar—”

“You gonna be the one to show me?” She didn’t
know where the words came from, but once the challenge was out of
her mouth, she desperately wanted him to do it.

His body jerked once, his head tilting like
he wanted to kiss her, to shut her up with his mouth.

And, oh God, how she wanted him to. Her brain
misfired, sending shimmers of lust along her spine and down to her
pussy.

He grabbed the brim of his hat and tossed it
to the floor. “You want me to show you?” His eyes had turned more
green than brown, and he stared into her eyes. “Just say the word,
CJ, and I’ll give you whatever you want.”

He pushed too far, too hard. “Asshole.” She
raised her free hand to strike his cheek.

Pete didn’t move, didn’t try to stop her, as
if he welcomed the hit, wanted her to stop this raging fire
building between them.

Instead of smacking him, she clasped her hand
to the back of his neck, feeling his soft, blond curls. “I want
it.” She tugged him down as she went up on her toes and smashed her
lips to his.

“Fucking…” He murmured the word against her
mouth, his hand on her wrist twisted her arm behind her, tugging
her flat against him. Opening his mouth, he lashed his tongue
between her lips, past her teeth, and deep into her mouth, rolling
her tongue with his.

Against her belly, his hard erection pressed
hot through his jeans.

His kiss turned frantic. He found every
crevice of her mouth and tasted it, he sucked her tongue into his
mouth and bit it lightly.

Her stomach jittered as heat flooded her down
low, tightening her insides, swelling and pulsing in her pussy
lips, juicing slick and dangerous between her thighs.

His free hand grabbed her breast, palming it
roughly, pinching her nipple between his finger and thumb.

With a cry, her head dropped back, breaking
the riotous kiss, breaking any willpower she had left for resisting
this dirt farmer. “Show me, Pete. Take me now.”

His growl shook along his entire body,
transferring to hers in sweet, naughty chills. Releasing her, he
tore open her blouse, buttons popping and skittering along the
floor. Then her bra, rended in half with one tug, and her breasts
chilled in the cool air.

When she looked at him, everything heated
again. He stared at her breasts, his eyes dark, his breathing fast,
and his body stiff. “You sure now, CJ?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure.” She grabbed his
hair and pulled his mouth to her nipple.

He immediately fastened his lips around it
and suckled, bending her back over his arm.

Letting go, she closed her eyes and just
felt. Nips and bites, laps and sucks, that sent bursts of desire
flooding her bloodstream.

Suddenly, her feet weren’t on the ground, he
sat her on the dining room table and stepped back. With one tug, he
popped all the snaps on his shirt and tore it off.

CJ wanted to reach out, touch the light
furring of blond hair on his strong pecs, grip those big biceps and
play in the crevices of his ab muscles. She reached for his belt
and he stepped closer, pushing her legs wider, tightening the denim
of her skirt close to ripping.

“Go ahead, boss lady. Do what you want.” His
words came out almost nasty.

A quick gaze at his face showed CJ he was
watching her hands. Maybe she’d misinterpreted his tone. But did
she care? Right now, she wanted into his pants. She unbuckled,
unbuttoned, and unzipped, then shoved his jeans down.

His cock pressed tight to his red briefs, and
he tugged them down, too, releasing a beautiful hard-on, eight
inches of thick, pulsing, creaming delight.

Stroking a finger over his slit, she stared
into his eyes. When she sucked her finger, his whole body vibrated.
“Mmmm.”

“You’ll get your chance at a taste. Right
now, fast and rough, me inside you.” Pete tugged the hem of her
skirt up as he pushed her backward.

A moment of panic had her sliding off the
table and turning around, her hips against the edge, her hands flat
on the table. “Take me from behind.” It was perfect, the exact way
she wanted him. None of that face-to-face shit. Just hard, hot sex
and she’d be done. Over him. Wipe him out of her mind.

He pulled her skirt up her legs, bunching it
at her waist.

Cool air hit the wet fabric between her legs,
then, with a quick rip, her panties were off, and a blur of color
as he threw them across the room.

His rough fingers touched her there, making
her body jump and quiver, her pussy lips swell and cream.

“Goddamn, you’re wet.” He mumbled the words
as his finger slid inside her, pushing its way deep into her core.
“Hot. Tight. Fuck me.”

Her slit contracted tight around his finger,
her head spinning with the touch, the words, the knowledge that in
seconds, Pete Gonally would be pushing his heavy shaft deep into
her. As her head dropped and her arms shook, he twirled his finger
in quick circles inside her. Her cry echoed off the tall ceiling.
“Inside me. Now.” She didn’t want to come until he was there, until
he—

“Yes, boss lady.” His finger slid out, then
the snap of latex sounded before his hands gripped her bare ass.
“Whatever you want.”

She didn’t care if he was being a bastard or
not, she just cared that she hung suspended over a deep drop-off,
and wanted to race head-first down into bliss.

The hot tip of his cock touched her heated
lips, then pushed in, slowly at first, then with more speed, more
force, until CJ could feel him deep inside, her body making room
for him. “Yes, yes, oh jeez, yes, Pete.” Her eyes rolled back in
her head, intense blasts of heat rolled through her, up her spine,
and into her brain.

When he pulled out nearly the whole way, she
wanted to order him back in, but before words formed, he shoved
forward, deep into her, until his thighs banged against hers.

It’d been too long, too many months without
this, that’s why she was seconds from coming. Not because it was
Pete. Not because it was her sexy hayseed. “Now. Please!” She
shouted as light bulbs popped in her head and her body sailed
through time, left the Earth.

His movements came faster, rattling her bones
as he pummeled into her with primal groans that sent her spinning
faster and faster.

She gasped for breath as her muscles let go,
and she fell flat on the table, the crinkle of paper under her
cheek.

His strokes slowed, but his cock stayed hard
and hot. This wasn’t over. She let a tiny smile curl the corners of
her mouth. Wasn’t over for her, either. Another ripple of heat
began in her canal, and would quickly turn into waves of need.

“You feel good, CJ. Perfect around me.”

She squeezed her muscles, gripping him with
all her strength.

“Ah, yeah. Show me who’s the boss.” He
rotated his hips as he shoved into her, hitting sweet spots she
didn’t know she had.

But his words hit a sore spot in her heart.
“Just shut up and make me come again.” Damn. Had she really just
said that? When was she going to get that speed bump installed
between her brain and her mouth?

He hesitated a second, then smacked her ass
so hard, she felt the ripple all the way up her spine.

What the fuck? She pushed up onto her hands
and turned to look at him. “Pete, you’d—”

He struck her other ass cheek, harder than
the first time. “Why don’t we both shut up and just enjoy
this.”

She clamped her lips together, but he leaned
over her, his hard abs and chest tight against her back, and kissed
her, forcing his tongue into her mouth again. She couldn’t resist,
and their tongues dueled for quick, sensual seconds before he
trailed kisses across her jaw, over her neck, and down her
shoulder.

Gripping her breasts, he tugged at her
nipples, matching the pulls with the thrust of his cock into her
slit.

Her head dropped to one side, her arms shook,
and she relied on him to hold her up.

“Touch your clit for me, CJ.” He rumbled the
words into her ear. “Do it now.”

With a shaking hand, she reached down past
her rucked-up skirt, felt her tight curls, damp with her cream, and
slid her fingers back to touch where Pete joined with her.

“Aw, yeah.” His words rumbled like distant
thunder.

Slick with her juices, his sheathed cock
eased between her fingers like a hot piece of slippery steel.

“Touch yourself.” He released one of her
nipples and grasped her hand, guiding her fingers to her clit, and
holding her there, moving slowly, circling the tight bud.