Free Abduction (A Psychic Romance Novella Series) by Larissa Ladd

place, all with his mind—and all without any real recourse from her. She was not accustomed to feeling powerless, and she didn’t like it; and yet, at the same time, it was oddly exciting to know there was someone she couldn’t bully, whose thoughts weren’t transparent to her.
    She remembered telling him—only moments before—about the failure of her relationships, and how the thoughts of the men she had dated had led to the demise of her romances.
    “If you promise to come back to the house, I’ll let you go.”
    Gabrielle considered the possibility of rebelling, of the standoff that would result. She was tired once more . It wouldn’t do her any good, she knew. This was as good an opening as she was ever going to get from Dustin—and at least, in some respect, she had the upper hand. He wanted her cooperative. He had apologized. He had made the offer to let her go for essentially a token.
    “Fine. Let me go.” The air around Gabrielle relaxed, and Gabrielle leaned into the open space, testing her freedom. There was nothing holding her in place.
    Dustin turned his back on her quickly and crossed the small clearing in front of the house. She considered the possibility of simply not following through on her word and discarded it. She had gained something of Dustin’s trust—it would be stupid to lose it now.
    She followed him slowly, thinking of what little she had managed to glean from his mind . He was attracted to her—frustrated by her—and he had an imperative to not drive her away. His bosses wanted something from her, and he was supposed to be doing his best to keep her cooperative. She wondered what the reality of the situation was; whoever was after her had established pretty obvious ill intent by sending thugs for her instead of contacting her like a civilized person. But what kind of people was Dustin representing?
    The thought of kissing him flickered through her mind again. His lips, up close, had looked even softer, even more appealing, than she had found them before. Gabrielle sighed as she stepped up onto the patio, glancing over her shoulder at the last of the dying light filtering through the woods. It would be dark in less than an hour, she thought.
    She was simultaneously tired and restless. Gabrielle rather thought that the night would be a long one. Without her computer for entertainment, she wondered what on earth she would do to fill the time before her usual bedtime sometime around midnight.
    “You are an extremely frustrating woman, did you know that?” Dustin sat down in a chair that Gabrielle hadn’t noticed, off to one side on the porch. He was looking at her, a faint smile tugging at his lips in spite of the aggrieved tone.
    “Oh, and you’re just so incredibly easy to deal with,” Gabrielle replied, settling on the floor and crossing her legs.
    Dustin grinned broadly. As the sky darkened, lights came up automatically on the patio. “So, you must be very good friends with whoever owns this house,” she observed, trying to find another opening into his mind. Dustin seemed to sense her tactic and shrugged.
    “She got me off of the streets. Gave me a decent job, a future.” For some reason, the fact that it was a she bothered Gabrielle. “She doesn’t use this place very much anymore, but she’s fine with me staying here sometimes—as long as I don’t wreck it, and keep the pantry stocked.” Gabrielle’s stomach rumbled and she realized that she’d only had a few bites of the admittedly excellent dinner that Dustin had prepared.
    “What exactly is it that you do? Other than abducting people.” Dustin rolled his eyes dismissively, though he was still smiling.
    “I didn’t abduct you. I could have, but I didn’t. And as to what I normally do… well, most of its tracking people. Sometimes good people, sometimes bad.” He shrugged again, as if the question of his job was unimportant.
    “What category do I fall under?” Gabrielle asked, raising an eyebrow.