Maximum Force: A Career Soldier Military Romance

by Tawdra Kandle

  The dress she wore wasn’t fancy in the traditional sense, but on Samantha, it was perfection. The material was shimmery and tie-dyed, reflecting a multitude of colors as the light struck it in different spots. It hit her legs at mid-thigh, but since it was also flowing and loose, falling from a high round collar, there was nothing cheap or trashy about it. She looked like class and polish personified.

  But just in case I might be afraid that I’d lost the real Samantha, she’d tucked a small flower into the side of her curls, just above one ear.

  “I’m okay, then?” She gave a twirl, making me grin even wider.

  “More than okay. You’re fucking gorgeous, babe.” I twisted my wrist to glance at my watch. “Shit. We don’t have time before we have to be there for me to show you just how fucking gorgeous.”

  “Ahem.” Harper cleared her throat and raised her hand. “Remember me? Roommate on the premises? Let’s not get carried away, kiddos.” She made a shooing motion with both hands. “Get gone, you two. Go off and hail and farewell and then whatever it is you Army people do to celebrate. And behave yourselves, got it?”

  Samantha laughed, and the sound made my cock go hard right away. This girl . . . this flower child, this passionate woman who loved with abandon and yet had taken on the very last man she’d ever expected to love . . . she’d stolen my heart, and all I wanted for the rest of my life was to be with her, to love her and to hear that laughter. I had no idea how we were going to work out logistics and shit, but I’d do anything in the world to keep Samantha Crewe as my own.

  She took my hand, and I led her to my car, opening the door so that she could slide inside. Once we were in the relative privacy, I gave into temptation and drew her close to me, risking her lipstick by kissing her hard and thoroughly.

  “Wow.” Samantha brushed her hand over my cheek. “I might have to get dressed up more often if this is the response I get.”

  “Babe, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” I ventured one hand down to skim over her shoulder and stroke her tit. The nipple hardened under my touch, and my mouth dropped open. “Flower child . . . are you braless? Are you naked under here?”

  She grinned at me, the mischief in her wide eyes making it suddenly impossible for me to sit comfortably. “Just trying to meet your expectations.” She leaned toward me and murmured into my ear. “And fulfill your fantasies.”

  “You do that every day.” I cupped her boobs, circling those enticing nipples with my thumbs. “Oh, God, baby. I’m never going to make it through tonight.”

  “Sure you will.” She pushed my hands away and settled down in her seat. “We’ll go, and you’ll be a good soldier, and I’ll be the perfect girlfriend. We’ll mind our manners and everything.” She slid me a sly smirk. “And then, you’ll take me home to your house, lift up my dress and fuck me mindless against every surface in your house.”

  I sat back in the driver’s seat and executed a perfect salute that was only ruined by my wide smile.

  “Yes, ma’am. Always ready to do my duty.”

  The End

  Book 2: Temporary Duty

  Kade Braggs grew up wild and free, surfing on a California beach without much ambition, until an impulsive decision led him into joining the Army. What started out as a joke turned into a career, and now he’s a company commander, leading several platoons of soldiers. Still, Kade does it all on his own terms; he plays as hard as he works, and having a good time is non-negotiable.

  Until he meets Leah Samson.

  Leah doesn’t have time to play. On her own for as long as she can remember, she’s driven, focused and intent on finishing law school at the top of her class. Nothing could distract her from that goal until an unexpected night of passion with a visiting soldier leads to life-changing complications.

  But while neither Kade nor Leah planned this bump in the road, the unplanned parenthood that threw the two together may be the best thing that ever happened to either of them. That is, if the heat they both feel doesn’t sizzle out of control first.

  A sneak peek at

  TEMPORARY DUTY: Career Soldier Book 2

  Kade

  The mall was almost empty, with only a few shoppers wandering past stores, window shopping or munching on crap from the food court. None of it looked good to me until I spotted a kid with a foot-long hot dog, and then that hot dog was all I could think about.

  Following my nose, I made my way past the card store, the sunglass cart and the lingerie shop—though I’ll admit my eyes did sneak a few peeks at the stuff on the mannequins in that window. The shit that chicks wore to be sexy was an endless source of fascination for me. Bras, for instance. They were a mystery I hadn’t yet solved. Racer back, push-up, strapless, T-shirt, enhanced, full-figure support—what did it all mean? Sometimes—scratch that; all of the time—I was grateful to be a guy. All I had to worry about was stepping into my boxer briefs each morning and kicking them off every night.

  Two teenagers were working at the Weiner Hut when I stopped to order my food. The one manning the register looked bored to death, and who could blame him? The place was dead. He barely acknowledged my existence beyond mumbling the total I owed for my dog, fries and drink. The other employee was a girl with a high ponytail and a quick smile. I caught her staring at me with open admiration, and I shot her a little wink before I strolled away with my food. She was jail bait, for sure, and I didn’t want any part of that, but it never hurt to be friendly.

  Once at the small table, I made short work of the hotdog and fries. Usually, I’d have sat back and people-watched for a little while, but there just weren’t enough folks to do that tonight. So, after I piled all the trash on my tray and deposited it in the bin, I began to head back toward the exit, retracing my steps. The evening was a bust. There wasn’t anything for me to do but to drive my bored ass back to post and maybe watch something on my laptop while wearing my earphones, if that didn’t bother his majesty my roommate.

  And then I realized that I was walking by a bookstore. Score! Somehow I’d missed it on the way in, but there it was: a little piece of nirvana, just waiting for me to go in and find something to read. I knew at least two of my favorite authors had new releases this month, and I hadn’t had time to pick them up yet. This was the perfect opportunity to catch up on those books and amuse myself, since I didn’t always have a lot of time to read.

  Like the rest of the mall, the place was deserted. I strolled down the aisle until I hit the mystery area, where I got lost in checking out a bunch of different possibilities for tonight. Looking for the right book was kind of like searching for the perfect chick, I mused. Sometimes the covers were all pretty and promising, but then you opened it up and realized it was a dud.

  I was chuckling at my own humor when I caught movement from the corner of my eye. A woman was standing with her back to me, facing the personal growth section. She was tall and thin, with blonde hair that reached nearly to her very fine ass. As I watched, she reached back to lift the strands away from her neck, and a very clear memory screamed across my mind. I saw that same hand brushing that same hair over that same shoulder as she straddled me. Her small, perfect tits bounced slightly and her neck arched, her mouth forming an O as she ground her pussy against me, and my cock was buried deep into her sweet heat—

  Holy shit. For a minute I couldn’t breathe, and I wasn’t sure if it was the arousal from that memory flash—‘cause yeah, there was arousal in spades, baby—or surprise as I realized that I knew this girl. I’d met her a while back, when I’d come up around this area to see my friend Cassie from back home in California. Cassie had been in town visiting, and the woman who now tilted her head as she continued to peruse the shelves had been her . . . roommate from college. That was it, wasn’t it? We’d all met up in a bar, but after I’d dragged my ass the whole way up here to see my old friend, Cassie had blown me off to hang out with her sorority sisters from college. So instead of talking old times with Cass, I’d had several drinks with her former roommate,
whose name was . . . God. What was it? I should remember it, because I sure as hell remembered had happened after those drinks.

  We’d gone back to her tiny apartment, and I’d fucked her so many times, we’d both lost count. Against her front door the minute it was closed behind us. In her bed. Next to her bed. I’d gone down on her while she had writhed on her kitchen counter when we’d paused for a snack. She’d ridden me until I’d gone hoarse, calling out her name. Which was . . .

  “Leah.”

  I didn’t realize I’d spoken it out loud until she turned her head. Those bewitching green eyes I remembered so well went round, and I wasn’t sure if she was more startled that someone was standing behind her at all, or that the someone was me, in particular. Shit, maybe she didn’t remember me. Maybe I was just one of her many conquests, which would explain why she was looking at me with such a weird expression on her face just now. She probably didn’t remember my name at all—

  “Kade.”

  The relief that flooded through me was only because I was glad that I didn’t look like a loser for remembering someone who’d long forgotten me. Nothing else. Only that.

  “Yeah.” I took a step toward her, stopping when her face filled with panic. “Uh, good to see you again. How’ve you been?”

  She still didn’t turn around, which I thought was kind of odd. And when she spoke, her voice was guarded. “What are you doing here?”

  I slid my free hand into the front pocket of my jeans. “I’m here at Fort Davis on TDY—uh, temporary duty. I’m taking a three week-long class. And I’m here in this mall because I was bored, and my roommate in the barracks is a little bit of an asshole. And I’m here in this bookstore because I needed something to read before I have to go back and deal with the asshole.” I spread out my hands. “So that’s my story.”

  Leah nodded, and her shoulders seemed to slump a little. “Okay, well . . . sorry about your roommate. I hope it works out. Good to see you.” She faced the shelves again, her back stiff. I got the sense that she was willing me to walk away.

  “Hey, do you want to grab some coffee or something with me? I’ve got nothing but time right now, and if you have, say, half an hour free, we could catch up.” I shifted the three books I was holding to my other arm. “There’s got to be someplace around here that’s open, right? It’s not that late. I just have to pay for my books.”

  She glanced back at me over her shoulder again, checking out the paperbacks. “You’re buying those?”

  I nodded. “Yup. I was planning on it. The Army frowns on me just taking stuff out of stores, you know. Paying for it seems like the best option.”

  Leah mumbled something under her breath that sounded like either a prayer or a curse. “Okay. Well, I’ll meet you at the register. I’m the only one working tonight, so I’ll ring you up.”

  “You work here?” Surprise tinged my voice. “You didn’t used to work in a bookstore, did you? I thought you were in law school and had a job at some big firm. What happened?”

  She dropped her head, sighing. “A lot has happened since I met you, Kade. A lot has changed.” Squaring her shoulders, she pivoted around to face me.

  Shock rendered me speechless and frozen, because I realized now why she’d kept her back to me. While Leah’s frame was still slender, the small tits I’d enjoyed that night had grown much larger. But I couldn’t even look at them, because something else had my attention.

  And that would be the high, round baby bump swelling the belly of this woman I’d slept with six months before.

  Other Books

  The King Series

  Fearless

  Breathless

  Restless

  Endless

  The King Series Boxset

  The Seredipity Series

  Undeniable

  Stardust on the Sea

  Unquenchable

  Recipe for Death Series

  Death Fricassee

  Unforgettable

  Death A La Mode

  Death Over Easy

  Moonlight on the Meadow

  The Fox’s Wager

  Crystal Cove Books

  The Posse

  The Plan

  The Path

  The One Trilogy

  The Last One

  The First One

  The Only One

  The One Trilogy Box Set

  The Always Love Series

  Always For You

  Underneath My Christmas Tree

  Always My Own

  My One and Always

  Always Our Love

  The Perfect Dish Series

  Best Served Cold

  Just Desserts

  I Choose You

  Keeping Score

  When We Were Us

  Hanging By A Moment

  Days of You and Me

  Acknowledgements

  This series is a surprise not only to my readers but to me as well. It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t supposed to happen. But when it was suggested to me—the idea of producing a series of genre-specific novellas exclusively on Kindle Unlimited—I was intrigued and decided to give it a go.

  The only problem was that I didn’t have any characters or stories in mind. But I should have known better; my imagination only needs permission before it runs absolutely amok. And even though I didn’t want to get emotionally attached to this group—one only has so much attention to give!—I’ve found myself falling in love just as my leads do.

  Big thanks to Kristi Rose, who came up with this idea and was kind enough to suggest it. I am so grateful for your insight and help! More heaps of appreciation to the incomparable Jillian Dodd who took her valuable time and energy to consult with me on my books overall and also revamped my website. This, folks, is the indie community at its best. I am so humbled to be part of it.

  Thank you to my three best friends and cheerleaders, Mandie, Olivia and Stacey, who jumped in and told me I could do absolutely add six more books to my already-bursting release schedule this year. Thank you to Stacey for formatting (YAY!!) and to the talented Meg Murrey for the covers that loaded me up with tons of inspiration!

  Thank you to my Temptresses who got excited right away, and to my special project Temptress Squad, who jumped into action fast and on short notice. My beta readers for this book were Ann Sutphin, Sue Ann Brooks, Christy Durbin, Dawn Line, Niki Mattes, Kara Schilling and Yvonne Farmer. Thank you for your quick and careful eyes!

  And always, thank you to my family who jump in and make things happen when I’m not sure they will. This was an interesting beginning to 2017, but as long as we’re in it together, I’m five by five. Love you all.

  about the author

  Photo by Heather Batchelder

  Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books run from YA paranormal romance through NA paranormal and contemporary romance to adult contemporary and paramystery romance. She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.

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