Free Trapped: A SciFi Convict Romance (The Condemned Book 1) by Alison Aimes

beautiful than the one in the cave.
Palms moved lazily in the wind, casting shadows over a slow moving crystal pink
lake that shimmered in the suns’ rays. It was…it was vibrancy and tranquility
and beauty. It was sustenance. It was hope.
    “Do you like it?” Convict stepped into sight from behind a
large rock. The hard mask that had tightened his face when talking with
Winthrop had settled into more relaxed lines.
    “It’s…unbelievable.” Her admission was grudgingly offered.
She’d liked the view better without him in it.
      “I stumbled on it a
few years ago. There are a couple places like it on Dragath25, but so far no
one else knows about this one. I thought you’d like it.”
    “You meant to show it to me?”
    His gaze shifted away. “I noticed how much you liked the
place in the cave. I thought you might like to see this, too. The lake down
there is at least fifteen degrees warmer than the one in the cave.”
    Like a swinging pendulum, her feelings careened back in the
other direction, something almost akin to affection for Convict flaring inside.
    “Amazing.” She took a few awed steps closer to the cliff edge,
peering down. “I can’t believe it’s real. I never truly believed we’d find
anything useful here on Dragath25, but there it is. Plain as day. Living,
thriving wild plants. Something we haven’t had at home in ages.” She clapped
her hands in awe. “Do you know what this means? The mission wasn’t a failure,
after all. You may have just saved Earth.”
    He reared back as if slapped. “I don’t give a fuck about
Earth.” His scowl was fierce. “What the hell has anyone there done for me
except strand me on this hellhole and wait for me to die? I say Earth’s demise
is fitting justice.”
    “But millions of people will die.” She slammed her fist into
her hand. “You can’t honestly wish them all dead. My brother and sister are
there. They’ve done nothing to you.”
    He shrugged, a disturbing non-answer. “It doesn’t matter what
we think, anyway. We can't do a thing to change it.”
    “But we can.” She corrected, praying she was making the right
decision in confiding in him. “A search and rescue shuttle is coming. It’s
standard procedure after a crash. They’ll come to investigate and identify
survivors. They’ll save us and we’ll relay our findings. We’ll be heroes. All
of us, including you.” She hurried to add the last part as his frown deepened.
“Because you were the one to show me this place. I’ll be very clear on that
point. I’ll tell the Command Council all you’ve done for us. I’m sure that will
go a long way in reducing your sentence.” She’d make sure of it. She owed him
at least that.
    He snorted. “For such a smart female, you really have no
clue.”
    “Excuse me?” She drew up short.
    “There’s no shortening my sentence. The Command Council wants
me on Dragath25 until I die and nothing will change that. And those rescuers
you’re counting on?” He shook his head, pity in his gaze. “They won’t make it.
You think your shuttle crashed by accident?”
    An inky cloud of dread spread through her veins. “What are
you saying?”
    “I’m saying the Council has no idea what’s going on here. I’m
saying you’re hardly the first research vessel to try and land here. I’m saying
225’s pack brought down your shuttle, just like the few that came before, and
they’ll do the same to whomever comes next.”
    “That’s not true.”
    He started toward her. “Is that why you’ve been so
accommodating? Were you holding out hope for rescue? Imagining that this little
deal of ours only needed to be for the short term? That you’d only have to
suffer some Dragath25 lowlife’s cock inside you for a few days more?” His laugh
had no humor in it. “Sorry, fighter girl, but there’s no imminent rescue in
sight.”
    “You’re lying. They’re coming.”
    “225’s pack only lets the droids through because they like
what they