I arrived in the big city with nothing but the shirt on my back, the pants on my butt, and also I was wearing underwear. Ah, Almasi City, the place where an enterprising young possum could make his fortune. Especially me, Teles Patrick, mind-reader extraordinaire.

I had a plan. A big brain plan. Get some seed money by cheating at gambling. Use that to cheat at the stock market. Become big and successful. A simple, genius plan.

Reading a few minds on the boat ride over convinced me to start my plan at the docks, where sailors between voyages pissed away their salaries in card games.

I slipped my way into a low-stakes game, wagering the shirt on my back and the pants on my butt. Of course, with mind-reading I had the advantage in games of bluff and wager. I took my fellow competitors for everything they had, down to the socks on their feet. And I made sure to lose just enough to stay above suspicion.

With my winnings, I moved to a higher stakes game. And higher. Until I found myself in a dockside dive run by the Magnivolent crime family. High rollers, high stakes. And one small-town possum mind-reader ready to make a starter fortune to bankroll a bigger fortune.

This new tier of players were better at bluffing, better at the strategy of the game than the sailors and two-bit losers I'd been bilking. But they were still nothing before my mental might.

With one exception. A terrifyingly beautiful shark woman, all curves and sharp smiles. My breath was taken away by her charm and my nerve taken away by the casual violence and sexual appetites that swam through her thoughts.

I should have quit while the quitting was good before the game wound down to just me and her. But I felt compelled to push my luck.

Hand after hand. Some I won. Some I lost, despite my best efforts. This shark, this 5-Kay Newt, made it hard to focus, hard to read her cards through her idle thoughts. Money went back and forth between us. My precious money, that would fund my precious new life.

Then, I had an idea. How to cut through the noise and have her complete attention. A big gamble. But, oh, the prizes to be won...

"How about we make it interesting?" I proposed. "I raise the shirt on my back."

I hoped. I prayed. And it paid off! I had her complete attention. Her horrible complete attention. And her amusement. She matched my wager with her suit top.

The cards were shuffled and dealt. Drawn and exchanged.

She surveyed her cards and then me with a big, confident and toothy smile. She thought she could read me like a book, I realized. I was a good mind reader but my body had been giving me away the whole game. So I leaned into it. I embraced her nervous she made me. She wouldn't find an ounce of confidence in me, until the moment I won.

5-Kay Newt laid her cards on the table. "King-high flush!"

"Queens over sixes full house." I put my cards on the table. "I'll be having that top."

Now I had her attention... and her annoyance.

The next hand took the shirt off my back. But the hand after, I won my shirt back. Then lost it again. Then won it and her shirt. (No bra? Be still, my beating heart!) Then lost my pants. Then won them and her pants. And then, her panties.

The fearsome, dominating shark was sat across from me naked. Naked, aggravated, and musing on the relaxation value of violent venting.

I proposed one last hand. Even without mind-reading, I could tell from her face that if I chose the wrong stakes, she'd pound me into the ground like one.

"If you win, I return your clothes," I proposed.

"And if you win?" Behind her furrowed brows, she imagined what I'd scream like and correctly predicted that I'd scream like a girl.

"A ten minute head start?"

A bit of a smile curled the edge of her mouth. I'd faintly amused her and that offered a stay of execution.

I won that hand. Nothing to be proud of. We both had garbage hands but mine was slightly less garbage.

I immediately grabbed my monetary and clothes-itary winnings and flagged down a taxi. Took it right to the train station. Bought a ticket for the first train going anywhere and left Almasi City.

I'd beaten 5-Kay Newt. Embarrassed her. I wouldn't trade the heady feeling of victory or the memory of her nudity for any number of easy fortunes. But I knew I could never come back. She'd murder me good. That had been foremost on her mind when I ran from that dive bar. Teles Patrick would have to seek his fortune in another big city. But the first thing I'd do after arriving was change my appearance and thank my lucky stars I had never told her my name.

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This commission idea started with the simple phrase card shark. I just wanted a picture where Kay was playing cards. Seemed like a fun, clothed activity for her to engage in. But then I also got a nude variants because nude variants are an option. And I decided to have her be annoyed in the nude variant, as if she has just lost a strip poker game.

Which led me to the idea of a telepathic guy who comes to Almasi City to get rich and has to leave because he played with fire by winning Kay's clothes in cards.

The good news is that you get to enjoy her nude without angering her in a card game.

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5-Kay Newt owned by me
Art by  stogiegoatarts