Field Stripped: 15 Steamy Military Romances

by Marissa Dobson

  She had no idea how beautiful she was, and her holding back, her shyness, added that much more to her beauty. She was not like the other women Logan pined for; Miranda was different.

  And right now, different was good.

  Miranda turned back to Logan and suddenly stopped. “Why did you stop dancing? Do I look stupid? Oh god, are my dances moves awful?”

  Logan laughed, he couldn’t help it. He stepped closer to her and shook his head. “Far from it, Miranda. I only stopped because you looked so beautiful. I had to take you all in.”

  “So, what you’re saying is,” she leaned in as if to whisper something just for him, “I looked like a crazy white girl trying to dance?”

  Logan blinked. He did not expect this from her, this humor in a form of small self-esteem. He grinned, then chuckled. “You have amazing white girl moves, Miranda. Don’t doubt yourself.” He winked.

  “Whew, because I was beginning to wonder if I looked like super freak out here.” She laughed with him. “Can we go have a drink now or will you continue to torment me with dancing?”

  He grinned and before he could answer, the current song ended and a slower song kicked in…a song about love. He shook his head. “Come here, super freaky white girl.”

  Miranda shook her head and lowered her gaze. “Logan, I don’t think,” she paused in her sentence and quickly glanced up to a waiting Logan.

  He tilted her head up and smiled. Reaching for her hand, he stepped closer and placed his other on his hip. Pulling her close to him, to where their bodies were barely touching, the feeling of her in his arms caused his heart to pick up in rhythm. He inhaled and caught the scent of her shampoo, possibly perfume as well.

  The way Miranda’s body felt against his was right. He wanted to tilt her head up, capture her lips with his, and trace her mouth with his tongue. He wanted to hear her gasp, wanted to hear her beg for him, wanted more than anything to claim her as his.

  But he couldn’t, at least not yet, and not tonight.

  Slowly, Miranda’s arm slipped underneath his arm and rested on his back. She then leaned against him and rested her cheek against his chest. Logan pulled her other arm in and rested it just above his heart.

  He glanced over to the bar and found Sterling watching them. The man grinned and held two thumbs up, then hip thrust the air.

  Logan chuckled and when Miranda turned to find what was funny, Sterling quickly stopped the thrusting and picked up his beer, dusting off his sleeve.

  “What just happened?” she asked Logan.

  “Oh, nothing. Just someone I know being an ass,” he told her. He looked down into her eyes and as they stood there, an electric jolt shot through him.

  He wanted her. Now. Not later, but now.

  Miranda glanced from his eyes to his lips, then back to his eyes. She wanted him to kiss her. He wanted it too.

  Then as Logan began to lean in, Miranda looked away and took a step back. “I need…I think…” She looked to him and her eyes grew from longing, to sad. “I need to go.” She lowered her gaze, turned on her heel and left the dance floor.

  Logan watched as he lost her in the crowd. He turned to head back to the bar when a woman in a red dress crossed his path. They bumped into one another and she almost fell.

  Logan made a quick lunge and grabbed her by the arms, pulling her back to her feet. “Are you all right? That’s my bad there, sorry about that.”

  “Oh, yes,” she started and glanced up to him, then did a double take. “Oh yes, I’m absolutely fine. Thank you for catching me. My name is Amanda,” she smiled.

  Logan glanced to where Miranda had left, not seeing any sign of her, then returned to Amanda. As much as he would rather be getting to know Miranda a little more, getting to know Amanda wouldn’t be so bad, either.

  At least get-to-know-you-right-now kind of moment.

  “Well, Amanda, this looks to be my lucky night. May I buy you a drink?”

  With Miranda being out of sight and out of mind, Amanda stepped in and took her place…if only temporarily. He knew by the way Amanda looked upon him, he could have her tonight if he wanted …and he did want, if anything, to fix an itch he’d been feeling since gazing upon Miranda.

  The way Miranda moved in his arms, the way her body melded against his…he needed this fix and he would get it from whomever he could.

  Their bodies hit his mattress and clothes ripped at the seams. Logan hurriedly pulled the panties from Amanda as she worked the button on his pants. Once they were both free of their confinements, Logan sat back on his heels, ripped a condom package open, slid it on, and sunk himself deep inside this woman.

  She arched her back and grabbed a hold of his arms. He thrust into her with everything he had. Tonight was about Logan; he needed this distraction from reality, from memories of Susan, from Miranda.

  Miranda.

  Logan opened his eyes and looked upon the woman below him. For a moment, he saw this blond, sexy, thin woman he picked up at the bar. In a blink, he saw Miranda.

  Or at least he thought he did. It happened so fast, he was not quite sure. He thrust harder against her until she began to call his name.

  “Logan! Yes, fuck me!”

  He gazed upon her again and Miranda stared back, mouth open as she gasped and her back arched, forcing her breasts to press into his chest. He thrust again and she moaned his name. When the woman looked to him again, it was no longer Miranda, but that of the woman he picked up at the bar.

  Logan pulled out and quickly flipped her over on her knees. If I can’t see her, she won’t be her, he told himself. He shoved his cock back inside her and gripped her hips. He thrust hard against her and the woman yelled out.

  His rhythm picked up momentum, his balls tightened and he came inside the condom. He groaned forcefully and thrust once more.

  Amanda gazed over her shoulder to him and smiled. “That was so fucking amazing! Damn!” She sighed and relaxed on her chest.

  Logan pulled out and stood next to the bed. He rolled the condom off then walked toward the bathroom. A moment later, the toilet flushed along with the condom. He came back into the bedroom and blinked at the woman still lying in his bed.

  “Get the fuck out.” He crossed the bedroom and opened a dresser drawer. Fishing out a pair of boxer-briefs, he glanced to the bed and her mouth was agape.

  “Excuse me?” she asked. “Did you just say to get the fuck out?”

  “Yeah, I did. We’re done here so go. You know the way out, same as the way in. Now go. I have no issue tossing your tight ass out on the sidewalk naked. You have five minutes.”

  She blinked and sat up. Covering her breasts she stood and stared at the garments on the floor. “You tore my fucking dress. How am I supposed to get home in this?”

  “Figure it out.” Logan turned his back to the woman and headed toward the kitchen. He poured a glass of water and stood there. He used to not be this person, but here he was, asshole extraordinaire.

  But she’s only a temporary fix to an already existing problem.

  If you’d fuck Miranda and get it over with, it would no longer be a problem.

  Logan rubbed his temples to the self-argument in his mind. A moment later, Amanda appeared from his bedroom, holding her dress together at the top. When Logan glanced up to her, he shook his head. She was almost in tears and looked to be holding herself barely together.

  He sighed and walked toward her.

  “Don’t fucking come near me, you fucking dick!” she screamed.

  “Seriously?” he asked her. “I was going to offer you a fucking T-shirt. C’mon.” He made his way past her into his bedroom and opened his dresser drawer. He pulled out an old shirt, one that Susan had given him a few years ago.

  Mean people suck. Nice people swallow, was written across the front of it. He tossed it to Amanda and she grabbed it mid-air.

  “Wow. How appropriate,” she remarked, then pulled it over her head.

  “Now go. Don’t call me. Don’t co
me back here. I’m looking for nothing and have nothing to offer.” Logan stalked past her and made his way to the front door. He opened it and looked to the woman. She simply blinked, shook her head, and walked past him.

  Just as she crossed the threshold, she turned to say something as Logan shut the door in her face.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Time had passed since Logan met Miranda. They had a few more one-on-one sessions at his place, but never at hers. She still put up the precedent that she would not date anyone she treated.

  “But we’re not dating,” he told her with a smile.

  She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re not coming to my home.”

  “Not yet,” he teased her. She smiled but did not say anything in return. The meeting today they agreed to meet at the park. Evening had arrived and the sun had almost fully descended. Logan pulled up on his bike in the parking lot and found the park empty.

  Perfect, he thought. I’ll have her all to myself out in the open. He made his way toward the swings and leaned against the metal pole. The sound of a car engine caught his attention and when he turned, Miranda had parked.

  He smiled at her approach. “You look nice tonight.” And he was truthful. She came wearing a white sleeveless top that was slightly low cut, denim jeans, tennis shoes, and her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. She looked sexy and Logan couldn’t help but wonder if she wore this outfit for him. It definitely put her breasts on display by perking them together. It also drew attention to her small waist.

  “Thank you, so do you.” She approached Logan and took a look around the park. “I figured it was time to venture into a different type of territory. Not your place or mine, just something indifferent.”

  “So, a park?”

  She nodded. “It is a safe place. I figured this time of the evening, no one would be around so if you felt the need to open up to me,” she shrugged, “you have that freedom.”

  He grinned. “Always working the angle.”

  She smiled.

  “I enjoyed myself with you the other night at the bar. You’re a good dancer.”

  She lowered her gaze. “I’m not sure that night was such a good idea.” She glanced up to him, then back down again. He could sense the regret in the words she was telling him, or maybe the regret any of it had even happened. “I do not want anything to be between us other than a professional relationship, Logan. If I am to help you, you need to be able to trust me as your counselor, not as a friend.”

  He sighed. “I can appreciate that, but trust me when I tell you, if anything, it allowed me to trust you that much more.” He shrugged and looked up, “We had fun, Miranda.”

  “Yes, we did, but I do not want that getting in the way of me treating you. I need you to understand that.”

  “I do understand, but--”

  “No buts,” she interrupted him. “We cannot meet up outside of our therapy sessions. We cannot causally bump into one another like we did. I didn’t realize that bar was one you frequented or I wouldn’t have gone at all.”

  “Seriously?” Logan rubbed the back of his neck and thought, this is not at all how I thought of tonight going. “Listen, Miranda, I appreciate what you’re saying, but please listen to me when I say nothing has changed.”

  “I certainly hope not.”

  A dead silence passed between them. Miranda cleared her throat and looked up to him. “Logan, my experience with soldiers has been different with everyone, except for one thing.”

  Logan pushed off of the pole and walked across the sand. He took a seat in one of the swings, but did not move after that. “And what might that be,” he said in a monotone voice.

  “Please, listen to what I’m about to tell you.” She took the swing next to his and turned to face him, the chains crossing one another. “I have watched soldiers come and go. The one thing they have in common is each deployment they go on, they close off more and more until no one can get in. They claim this happens for the others’ own good. They claim the others deserve better than what they can offer.

  “But the thing is, they are lost within themselves, Logan. They get lost in compartmentalizing everything and pushing everyone away, even those they love the most. To them, it is easier to keep everyone at arm’s length than to let anyone into the nightmare that has become their life.”

  Logan did not move. Everything Miranda just said felt like a sting. No, more than a sting. It felt like someone took a hot, jagged edge and ripped it across his flesh. Toss on salt and rub it in…that was what it felt like.

  “You know nothing of combat, the shit we go through for training, the counter-terrorism bullshit we go through, the lives we’ve all taken, the lives we’ve all saved…you have no idea what you’re talking about.” Pain, anger, rage, and regret all flowed through him from her words. He had not felt anything like this in a long time.

  A part of what she said was right; he had pushed everything down and compartmentalized it. But she barely knows me, he told himself. “So, you just think, because of some degree you have,” he stood and stalked closer to stand directly in front of her, “you have some right to tell me how I should feel or what I do to contain myself? You think you have some right to say this to me?” His voice began to rise but he did not care, and he was far from being done. “You think you can just talk to me about deployments and closing off? You think you know anything about what I do? You have NO idea the bullshit we go through! NO IDEA!” He seethed and stared into her eyes.

  Miranda stayed put and did not move, aside from her eyes growing wider and her chest moving more rapidly with her breaths. “I…” she swallowed and tried again, “Logan, I did not mean…”

  “Yes, yes you did! You most certainly did mean it!”

  “No, what I’m saying is, I have dealt with soldiers in your situation before and we have come out on top. Put your trust in me, Logan. Allow me in to help you.”

  He laughed, although there was no humor in it, and he shook his head. “So, you want me to simply open up about everything that has happened, open up about the shit I’ve gone through with my unit, open up on how it felt when that fucking WHORE of a wife of mine stabbed me in the back when she decided to offer her pussy to another man? You want me to tell you how I feel like it is all my fault anyway because I was not there for her? You want me to just sit here like a fucking bitch and cry to you about it all? Is that what you want?”

  Logan, now pissed, turned away from her and pressed his hands against his hips. He kicked at the sand, then stared up to the sky. “What the fuck did I do to deserve this shit?” he whispered to himself.

  “Yes,” Miranda answered him.

  He turned to face her and furrowed his brows. “What did you say?”

  She lowered her gaze and stood from her swing. She took a step back, then another, and another. “I said yes.” She turned on her heel and started toward her car.

  “Oh NO, you don’t!” Logan took off in a sprint. Miranda glanced back and gasped, then made a run for her car. “Goddammit, woman, I’m not going to fucking hurt you!” He grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face him. “I may be many things, but a woman beater is not one of them.”

  “Let me go!” she ordered.

  “Not until you tell me what you mean by yes.”

  She struggled against his grip and Logan finally wrapped one large arm around her, followed by the other. He held onto her small frame and stared down into her eyes. “I promise,” he lowered his voice, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “This is what I meant when I said yes.”

  He blinked. “What do you mean, this?”

  “You need someone to hold you, to tell you it will be all right, to have that one person you can confide in, no matter what the circumstances are. Logan, I’m trying to be that person for you.”

  He suddenly let her go and took a step back. He shook his head and continued to stare at her. “Why?”

  “Because, you need someone to be that rock, to
be that person you can go to no matter what. We all need that person, Logan. It is just a matter of finding who they are. We try, but sometimes, we don’t find them until it’s almost too late.”

  Logan thought about what she told him, and thought about Susan. He thought he had this with her, but obviously he was wrong. He had guys he could talk to if he wanted, but not about everything. He had the guys in his unit who had been through everything with him; they would understand how he felt, but could he actually talk to them? Probably not.

  “What you’re offering me, Miranda, is a lot more than I can give back to you, if ever.”

  She nodded and crossed her arms over her body. “I know that, but this is what I do.”

  “How many people have you done this with and how many still keep you as their person?”

  She lowered her gaze. “Quite a few and I cannot give you that number.”

  “Why? Because you can’t or won’t?”

  “Logan, let me help you. Don’t worry about the number. We can do this or you can come back to group and fail. This is your only alternative.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “No, you’re giving me an ultimatum. And you’re also suggesting I’m a failure with that.”

  She tilted her head slightly. “No I’m not, and I suppose I am giving you an ultimatum. Your choice.” She turned on her heel and started toward her car, but this time she did not run.

  Logan quickly jogged to catch up to her and stopped Miranda just before she got into her car. She turned to face him and her eyes widened to the closeness they were standing. Logan leaned into her and reached to touch her face.

  “Logan, please don’t…”

  “Why not?” He watched her for signs of fear, but saw nothing. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. “Your mouth is saying no, but your body is saying yes. Your breathing has picked up, your skin is blushing, and your eyes have dilated. You continue to look at my lips because you want me to kiss you. Tell me when I’m warm.”