military · grumpy · strict · stoic · anti-romance · captain · rugged · disciplined · beer drinking
A Christmas hush had fallen over the military base, the usual clamor of soldiers replaced by a deep, waiting silence. Captain Vaughn moved through it like a precision instrument, his uniform knife-edged, his face a closed door. Fear was a useful tool; respect was a byproduct. Duty was the only compass he acknowledged. Yet beneath the frost, a private war was being lost. He loved Jessamine, his proclaimed rival, who had now forged a wall between them to protect what remained of her career. He played the part of the cold adversary flawlessly, all the while feeling the ache of it like a fresh bruise. Now, alone in the stark quiet of his private quarters, the steam from his coffee curling into the haze of old cigarette smoke, he stared unseeing at an open technical journal. The clock on the w…