Abbi Glines – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Abbi Glines – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.wownovels.com Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:33:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.wownovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Abbi Glines – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.wownovels.com 32 32 Up To No Good (Mississippi Smoke #10) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/up-to-no-good-mississippi-smoke-10-read-online-abbi-glines Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:33:46 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/up-to-no-good-mississippi-smoke-10-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)

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Elsie
My eyes may have opened that morning, but the nightmare had only just begun. Not only had I lost my parents, but I didn’t even get the chance to grieve their deaths. I had to run, go into hiding, or I’d face their same fate. All I had left in this world was my best friend, and although I trusted him completely, I wasn’t sure about the place he had taken me. He swore I’d be safe with his cousins. But being told that these strangers who were going to protect me were also members of the southern mafia didn’t make me feel very safe.

Forge
We didn’t have time for this. My mom’s nephew hadn’t been around in years, yet he was dropping off some girl for us to protect while we were facing my mother’s battle with cancer. While the others in my family thought we should help the girl, I didn’t see how this was our problem. Her dad had been DEA and he should have protected his family better. No one asked my opinion, though, and here she was with those silver eyes shadowed with a heaviness that I understood. Grief. Pain. Loss. The fear that had gripped me from the moment of my mother’s diagnosis.

I’d save her, alright, but the one I was going to have to save her from was me

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Elsie

Five Years Ago

“Don’t chew your nails,” I hissed at myself, clasping my hands together.

Had I ever been this nervous slash excited and anxious in my life? At least my mother was in her office and not witnessing this. She’d likely get her phone and video it all.

I might want a video of what was about to happen—or what I thought was about to happen. What I hoped with all my heart was going to happen. My palms were starting to sweat now. He might touch my hands! Quickly, I began to wipe them on the front of my jeans.

The flash of black from the familiar Mustang had me standing straighter as I took a deep breath. He was here. I had to calm down, act cool. But it wasn’t every day that a girl’s best friend, who she had secretly harbored a crush on for years, came over to ask her to prom.

I mean … Calvin hadn’t said that was why he was coming over when he texted me. He’d said it was important and to meet him on the front porch.

Calvin Sawlan had been showing up unannounced at my house for years. The fact that he had told me to meet him on the front porch was what clued me in that something was up.

I placed a hand over my heart, hoping that the rapid beating wasn’t as loud as I feared it was. I’d die if he heard it.

I watched as he climbed out of the driver’s side, and a smile spread across my cheeks so big that it hurt. I might need to tame that too. Looking at myself in the mirror, that hung in the foyer, I tried to look less excited.

“Act cool,” I whispered to myself as I walked to the door to go outside, like he’d requested.

Over-the-top prom proposals had been going on all week at school. I watched each one, envious but not hopeful that I’d be on the receiving end of one from Calvin. I feared Johnny Marsh or Baron Strum might ask me, and I didn’t want to say yes to either of them. I was holding out hope that Calvin would ask. Every day that passed and he hadn’t asked another girl, my daydreaming of this coming moment had gotten stronger.

Just yesterday, Calvin had asked me if I thought Josh Towle’s flash mob with the soccer team, asking Nyla Jacobs to prom, was cheesy or not. He’d seemed very interested in my response.

Was that what he was going to do? Was there going to be a group of football players doing a flash mob in my front yard?

Calvin had been torn between both his parents after their divorce. He was a people pleaser—at least where they were concerned. His father wanted him to play football. His mother nurtured his talent in acting, dance, and music. He had chosen to live with his father when they split—or that was what he said. I often wondered if she had just left without asking him to go with her. Whatever the case, once she was gone, he had allowed football to take over his life, and I hated to see him not use his other gifts.

Perhaps he was going to today! For me.

Reaching for the doorknob, I twisted it and hoped my face wasn’t as flushed as it had been. Swinging open the door, I tried not to blind him with my overbright smile and prayed I looked casual as I stepped onto the front porch.

Calvin was almost at the bottom of the steps. His curly, dark brown hair was messy from driving with his windows down, and his chocolate eyes flashed with mischief. His lips curled up at the corners, awakening the flutters in my stomach. It was easier when he had a girlfriend. My reactions to him were kept under control, although my heart ached frequently. I didn’t obsess over every smile or glint in his eyes, trying to read more into it when he was in a relationship.

Since he’d broken up with his last girlfriend a month ago, however, I had been letting my guard down a little at a time. Wanting more than anything to see the tiniest spark in his eyes that told me he saw me as something more than his best friend, his buddy.

My eyes did a quick glance around the yard and down the street. I didn’t see any other people who could be hiding or preparing to join him in a flash mob. That was okay. I didn’t need some grand gesture. I just wanted my prom to finally be with Calvin. I’d wanted it since I’d hit puberty. Just like I wanted him to see me as more than his friend. Other guys noticed me. His friends did, but none of them asked me out. I liked to think he had marked me as off-limits.

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Hell of a Christmas (Mississippi Smoke #9) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/hell-of-a-christmas-mississippi-smoke-9-read-online-abbi-glines Wed, 07 Jan 2026 10:40:51 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/hell-of-a-christmas-mississippi-smoke-9-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Mafia Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >49

A deep chuckle sent a bolt of pleasure through me. “Damn, you’re sweet. Lucky for you I’ve got a conscience and I’m gonna walk away.”
Wait, what? Walk away?
He reached out and took a lock of my hair, then twirled it around his finger before dropping it with a sigh.
“Why … why are you walking away?” I blurted, desperate to keep him here.
His eyes seemed to twinkle with something, but whether it was amusement or not, I couldn’t tell. There was a darkness there too. I’d seen it before. It felt a bit threatening, but then he’d smile, and it would vanish. All that was left was the clear blue.
“Because I don’t break pretty things,” he said before giving me one last look, then left me standing there, feeling as if he’d sucked every ounce of joy from my life.

Kash Savelle hadn’t broken me, he’d shattered my world. I was alone, lost, and clawing to make it day to day. I should hate him and not a day passed that I wished I could. Seeing him again was the last thing I needed. Not when I almost had some form of security. But like the devil himself, there he was… standing on the street watching me. Still as painfully beautiful as he had always been.

Betrayal had never been something I’d experienced until Cressida Beck stole my soul, then ripped it from my body. My obsession with her had caused me to lose the life I’d been raised in, my family. I was exiled to Alabama to live with that branch of the southern mafia. No longer trusted in Mississippi, until now. This year, I was getting to come home for Christmas. Seeing the girl who had ruined me wouldn’t break me this time. I wouldn’t lose it all for her again. I just had to keep a firm grip on my sanity and stop seeking her out like the animal inside me that hadn’t stopped craving her

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Cressida

Sixteen Years Old

Was there a blue that could describe his eyes accurately? I didn’t think so, and God knew I’d lain in bed trying to think of one since Kash Savelle had locked them on me the first day of school. The clearest sky on a summer day, the color of a perfect raindrop, the ocean in the South Pacific perhaps might come close.

Holding my laptop tightly to my chest, I scanned the crowded hallway as those around me talked about the football game on Friday night. Our team had beaten the other one by over twenty points. Kash had run in two touchdowns. Calloway Short dropped her pom-poms and took off running to him when the game was over. I didn’t stay around to watch the rest of that. Instead, I went home and did my best to shove the image of the head cheerleader slash prom queen slash pain in my ass throwing herself into his arms out of my mind. But getting Kash Savelle out of my head had been impossible. He had seared his image into my brain with those damn eyes and that cocky grin of his.

I wasn’t doing much to fight this attraction to him either. Like, at the moment, when I should be hurrying to my first period class and going over the questions for our quiz, I was instead looking for him. Wanting a glimpse. Oh, who was I kidding? I wanted to see if he noticed me, smiled at me, spoke to me. I had thought of little else all weekend.

“Tell me who you’re looking for so intently, and I’ll help you find them.” The thick Southern drawl was one I would recognize anywhere. It was the only voice that had ever sent a thrill through my body and caused instant goose bumps.

I spun around, drawing in a sharp breath as my heart took off in a wild flutter.

There he was. All six foot two of him, with his messy hair the color of ink and those eyes that made even the bluest sky appear lackluster. The corner of his mouth quirked as his eyes glinted with … I wasn’t sure, but it sent a shiver through me. Was it interest? Oh God, let it be interest.

“Kash! Where did y—” another male voice called out, then paused mid-sentence when Kash held up a hand and stopped whatever they were going to say, keeping his gaze on mine.

“I’m busy,” he said, and then he winked at me.

I was going to melt. Right here on the floor. Become an instant puddle. Kash Savelle had winked at me.

“I see … later then,” the other guy replied, and Kash gave a small nod of his head in agreement.

“Now, who was it you need to find, beautiful?” he asked me.

Breathe, Cressida. Do not embarrass yourself. You have his attention. Make the most of it.

He called me beautiful!

“I was, um, just, uh …” I stammered like an idiot. What did I say? That I’d been looking for him? Telling him that might scare him off. It gave stalker vibes. “No one.” Liar.

He raised one eyebrow. “You sure about that? Because I stood behind you for a solid minute, and you were so locked in that you didn’t notice you were being admired.”

Admired? Me. He had been looking at me.

“Oh,” I breathed, unable to say more than that with my heart racing.

A deep chuckle sent a bolt of pleasure through me. “Damn, you’re sweet. Lucky for you I’ve got a conscience and I’m gonna walk away.”

Wait, what? Walk away?

He reached out and took a lock of my hair, then twirled it around his finger before dropping it with a sigh.

“Why … why are you walking away?” I blurted, desperate to keep him here.

His eyes seemed to twinkle with something, but whether it was amusement or not, I couldn’t tell. There was a darkness there too. I’d seen it before. It felt a bit threatening, but then he’d smile, and it would vanish. All that was left was the clear blue.

“Because I don’t break pretty things,” he said before giving me one last look, then left me standing there, feeling as if he’d sucked every ounce of joy from my life.

One

Cressida

Twenty-Three Years Old

“Order up,” Harland Wilts, the only cook at the twenty-four-hour greasy-spoon diner I’d unfortunately been working at for the past month called out.

There were two truckers, a table of firemen who had just gotten off the night shift, and Burt—the homeless man I had given ten dollars to so he could come in and eat since the temperature had dropped this week.

I worked from four in the morning until four in the afternoon. The hours were long and exhausting, but if I ever wanted to save enough money to get a better place to live, then I needed to work the twelve-hour shifts. Truth was, I wasn’t far from being as homeless as Burt. Seeing him buried under old blankets on my walk to work reminded me how close I was to being in that situation. It was still better than the alternative. Running had been my only option. No one was going to find me here. Even if my father tried, which I doubted he would, he wouldn’t look for me at a place like the diner.

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Hell of a Mess (Mississippi Smoke #8) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/hell-of-a-mess-mississippi-smoke-8-read-online-abbi-glines Wed, 29 Oct 2025 22:15:13 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/hell-of-a-mess-mississippi-smoke-8-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Erotic, Virgin Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)

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Lace
Waking up without any memory of who I was in a place with people who didn’t know me would have been terrifying if it hadn’t been for him. The comfort I felt when he was close by pushed other darkness away. Memories slowly fighting to return, haunting images, fear that crawled closer every day until he showed up with a book by my bedside to read to me. I didn’t care what he read, just hearing his deep southern drawl ran off the monsters lurking in the shadows of my mind. Luther Levine was my hero.

Luther
My life was what I’d made it. The one I wanted, and I was real damn happy with it. Until I found a woman with a pair of the prettiest eyes I’d ever seen staring up at me beaten and broken behind a dumpster. For the first time in my life, someone needed me. What was even more shocking was I wanted her to need me. I wasn’t planning on keeping her. She was too young. The age gap too big. But when they came to take her from me, the urge to fight back clawed at my chest. Just when I accepted I couldn’t let her go… we found out who she was. Not because her memory returned. It was her DNA that dropped the bomb on us all. The outcome was one hell of a mess

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Her

I’d never thought about the sound of bones when they broke or if it was even something one could hear. However, the crunch of mine as they shattered echoed in my ears while I struggled to breathe. I pled as I held my wrist, which had been bent back abnormally, when the backhanded slap across my face, followed by a hard shove, sent me falling to the pavement below. There was a throbbing in my skull where I couldn’t catch myself due to my injured wrist and my head had hit something. The impact was making it hard to think, or maybe it was the pain.

The cracking noise, however, hadn’t been from the fall, but from when the expensive Italian loafer made contact with my ribs. Drawing in oxygen became as painful as my wrist, if not more so. My head was the least of my worries.

“Arun,” a voice I thought I knew but was struggling to place called out. “That’s enough.” There was amusement in the man’s tone. As if this was entertaining. “She has learned her place. Come back inside.”

Yes, please go back inside.

I watched his feet, not daring to look up at his face and meet his eyes. I hadn’t wanted to come here. My father had made me. He’d said Arun and I needed to be seen together. The engagement had been announced.

Pain seared through me, and I closed my eyes. I wasn’t sure I could survive much more. Something was wrong in my chest.

“You say anything,” Arun Al-Bahrani spat angrily, and I knew he was talking to me. “I will kill you. Go back to Texas. When I want you I will call for you.”

I nodded, keeping my head down. Terror crawled up my back as my future played out in front of me. Perhaps death would be better. A hot tear streaked down my cheek. Where the beating hadn’t brought me to tears, the thought of my life and the lack of those in it who would even care if I were dead did. The last time I’d known what it felt like to be loved, I’d been six years old.

“The blonde you were fond of has been taken back to a private room,” the voice I realized was Saeed, Arun’s very close friend, said.

“Send someone to deal with this one,” Arun ordered. “But first, leave her here to remember what it feels like when she shows me disrespect. It will be a lesson that serves her well.”

“Yes, sir.”

I’d come here on a flight my father had put me on and when I landed Arun hadn’t been at the airport to get me. I had called my father who had told me to find him then hung up. Arun’s father was behind my being here. My father would rather I never leave the house. But for both our fathers, appearance was everything. It had taken me hours to find Arun and he’d ignored all my calls and text until his father had contacted him. That had been the beginning of Arun’s wrath.

The sound of footsteps as he began to walk away sent relief through me. I didn’t want to die. There might not be anyone who would mourn my exit from this earth, but I still clung to the hope that, one day, I’d know happiness. The fairy tale my mother had once told me when she tucked me into bed at night, where a prince would come along and love me, remained a dream I clung to just as I held the memories of her close.

Short, labored breaths were all I could manage. With my good arm, I slowly tried to sit up, but the agony that came with it stopped any real movement. I couldn’t stay out here like this, and I couldn’t go back to the house that had been more prison than home for the past twenty-two years. If I was going to survive, I had to find the strength to get up, walk, and keep walking until I was so far away that no one could find me. I had a jump-start on getting lost. I was in Mississippi. Not Texas, where I could be recognized.

Staying here meant Saeed would come back like Arun had ordered him, and I’d be taken wherever it was he wanted me to be. My father wouldn’t question Arun. I was part of a business deal for my father and nothing more. I’d been raised to be the perfect wife, pure, obedient. The merger my father had been orchestrating the majority of my life. Texas oil wasn’t enough for him. He’d bought all the oil land in Texas that he could and wanted the wealth that would come from a connection to the oil in Abu Dhabi. Arun was his key to that power, and he’d sell his own soul for it. His daughter was an easy price to pay.

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All Tied Up (Mississippi Smoke #7) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/all-tied-up-mississippi-smoke-7-read-online-abbi-glines Sat, 30 Aug 2025 08:42:46 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/all-tied-up-mississippi-smoke-7-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Forbidden, Mafia Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)

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Noa

The man I’d grown to know over the past ten years through our texting was much different from the possessive, secretive, and dangerous one I was slowly unraveling. The different personalities he seemed to have were giving me whiplash. When he was with me, it was perfect, I didn’t question anything.
It was when he was gone that the insecurities crept in, and soon enough, those fears became reality. Like so many before me, I became one of Ransom Carver’s cast offs. Not only going completely silent, shutting me out, but he had broken me in ways not even my mother had been able to do.

Ransom

When called out, I had admitted to my mistake. But the price for it was too high. Never had I disobeyed an order, but I had never been told I couldn’t have the one person I depended on for peace. Being born into the southern mafia left you without a choice. It was simply a life you grew up in. You didn’t leave it. You lived it.
Staying away from Noa was asking too much of me. I’d tried, but my will was breaking along with my weak grip on my sanity. I was crossing lines that could get me killed, but even if she couldn’t see me, I had to protect her. Keep her safe. Do unsavory things to those who got too close or wanted what belonged to me.

Without her in my life, then the rest no longer mattered.

This is the continuation and conclusion of Noa and Ransom's story

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

One

Noa

My eyes swung from the security camera at the entrance to my building complex back to my bedroom. The sound of running water reminding me that Ransom Carver was in my shower. That still seemed unreal. The bubble of excitement at the thought was burst quickly, when the front entrance buzzed again.

Frowning, I stared at Thurston on the screen. Why was he here? I hadn’t given him my address. I would have to blame that on my best friend, Jellie. She meant well, but there was no spark with Thurston.

While there was a raging fire with Ransom. One I was afraid was going to burn me to the ground, but I wasn’t about to tread carefully.

Ransom had shown up in my apartment last night and said things that I never thought I’d hear him say. Then there had been a lot of sex. I smiled, biting my lip and thinking about what all we’d done.

Thurston sighed heavily and pulled out his phone to begin what looked like texting. I bit down too hard on my lower lip, unsure of what to do, then let it go with a wince. He hadn’t texted or called me first. We’d just met this weekend. Shouldn’t he have at least sent me a text before showing up here? And why was he already back from Boston? What about his car?

I’d forgotten about that already—well, until now. Although it had just been yesterday morning, it felt as if more time had passed. Ransom had a way of distracting me. He always had. Even when it was just his words I read on my phone.

Deciding that ignoring Thurston would make things weird and he’d probably start calling, I pressed the button that unlocked the door for him to enter, then ran a hand through my tousled hair. Not that I was trying to look good for Thurston, but I didn’t want to answer the door with a just been fucked look. I doubted Ransom would want that either.

I stared hard at the door, wondering if I’d made a mistake. Maybe I should have ignored him and dealt with this later. I wasn’t positive if I even had anything to deal with at all. Ransom had said things about not sharing me. The memory sent a warm surge of joy through my chest. One that I would probably regret later.

Facing a future heartbreak was a price I was willing to pay if it meant I got Ransom. Even for a little while. The fear that I could lose him and our friendship was annoyingly there in the back of my mind, but it didn’t have much time to bloom before the knock on my door interrupted it.

Crap. I should have just ignored this. I could have sent Thurston’s call to voicemail and dealt with it later.

Sighing, I unlocked the door and opened it up. Dressed in a pair of freshly pressed khakis and a polo shirt that matched his sea-green eyes stood Thurston Coburg. I refused to call him Thurst, like Jellie’s boyfriend, Zeke, did.

His eyes did a quick sweep of my body, which was currently wrapped in a knee-length pink satin robe. I should have put on clothes, but too late for that now.

“Did I wake you up?” he asked as his blond brows drew together in a frown.

While it sure appeared that way, it was also almost eleven. I could see where his confusion might come from.

I shook my head. “No. Just a lazy morning,” I replied, which was a lie. Nothing about the past two hours I’d spent with Ransom was lazy.

He gave me a crooked grin at that response, then stepped forward, as if to come inside. That wasn’t a great idea, but before I could think of a reason for him not to, he walked past me and into the entryway. I began to panic when his gaze swept the area, as if he was inspecting it. That annoyed me, but I was too busy trying to decide how to get rid of him.

“Nice place. I looked at this complex before I leased the flat I’m at now, but it was a touch too steep for me. Smut novels must be profitable.”

Eh, okay, he was starting to piss me off. The tone in his voice, as if what I wrote amused him, was one I was familiar with. It was often one I heard when I was asked about my “smut writing” or something equally insulting. I wrote romance novels. My books had plot. They weren’t just porn. Sex was a minor role in the storyline. There was angst, pain, drama, all wrapped up in a pretty bow.

“You could say that,” I replied, not trying to mask my dislike of the word smut. Although he didn’t seem to pick up on it.

Turning back to look at me, he flashed his perfect white smile that I would bet money was fake.

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All Jacked Up (Mississippi Smoke #6) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/all-jacked-up-mississippi-smoke-6-read-online-abbi-glines Mon, 30 Jun 2025 19:08:16 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/all-jacked-up-mississippi-smoke-6-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Forbidden, Mafia Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >77

Ransom
Within the family, we had no secrets. Our lives were intertwined, and the darkness that came with our way of life was something we all shared. Accepted. Had been born into. But for ten years, I’ve had one thing that was mine. Something I kept to myself. A source of light when things got heavy. The nerdy, overlooked tutor from high school who had been a breath of fresh air while helping me pass British Literature was someone I hadn’t let go of. Sure, it had been ten years since we’d seen each other, but that wasn’t important. Our texting was what I needed. Her wittiness had the ability to make me laugh and lighten my mood with her comebacks. She had never tried to impress me or flirt. It was the strongest relationship I’d ever had with a female, but it was also platonic, which was why it lasted. Noa Raines was my calm in the storms of life, and I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.

Noa
When faced with a situation you weren’t expecting and have no idea how to navigate, one normally asks for advice from someone they trust. Typically, I’d text out my problem to my texting pen pal and ask him what to do. Except this time, my issue was with him. In the flesh, in front of me, glaring at me like he’d rather lick the bottom of his shoe than speak to me. I had no logical reason why he should dislike me on sight. He didn’t recognize me, that I knew. The name he’d been given was my pen name. One I had actually chosen because of him. Ironic that he’d made a snarky comment about it.
How was the man sitting across from me the same one I’d talked to almost daily for ten years? This man was cruel, rude, and although he was still mouthwatering, I didn’t like him. And he didn’t deserve to know who I was now. I’d walk out of here keeping that to myself. The next time he texted, he’d go unanswered. If he wanted to treat others so harshly, then I’d return the favor.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Noa

The Past-Age Sixteen

The smell of wood, combined with a slight mustiness and a twinge of smoke, enveloped me. It was my absolute favorite scent in the world. I inhaled deeply, letting it seep in and remind me that this was all I needed to be complete. Friends were drama—or at least, it appeared that way. I didn’t have much experience, unless you counted Becca Walters in the sixth grade, who had shown up midyear. She’d been quirky, talked nonstop, and liked to ask me about whatever book I was reading at the time. Her father was in the military, and she’d moved that summer, leaving me once again the loner. Except for Becca, my friends had always been found in the pages of the stories I read.

I picked up the next returned book in the pile that I had been tasked with placing back on the shelves of the library at the high school I attended; it gave me a sense of purpose. I might not cheer on the sidelines for the football team or march across the field at halftime with an instrument, and I might not perform onstage with the theater department, but I had this. I volunteered every day in the library during my study hall and after school. Except on Thursdays, when I tutored whatever student Ms. Richie—the head of the Literature department—had assigned to me.

“I believe you’re who I’m looking for.”

A deep voice jerked me from my thoughts.

I spun around, confused by the close proximity. It was as if he’d been speaking to me. Which was unlikely since no guys ever spoke to me—at least on purpose.

Jeremy Tucker had bumped into me yesterday and said, “Excuse you.”

The air in my lungs felt as if it had seized when my eyes collided with a pair as golden as he was. I’d heard him speak before, but never up close. The warm tingle that raced through me from the sound still radiated as I stood there silent. Frozen. And awkward. Always awkward.

“Noa Raines?” He said my name like a question, his brows drawing together.

I nodded. I couldn’t do more. Nothing seemed to be working correctly. My ability to speak had vanished with my ability to inhale much-needed oxygen.

A crooked grin curled his lips, as if he knew the effect he had on me and it amused him. My face heated from the embarrassment. This might be the one time in my life that Ransom Carver spoke to me, and I was managing to humiliate myself. It was quite possibly going to go down as my biggest regret. The one that kept me up at night as I relived it in horror.

“You are Noa Raines?” he asked.

I nodded again. Still no words.

Speak, Noa. Stop acting like an idiot.

“Well, Noa, seems I’m in need of your help if I’m going to pass British Literature. I’ve been informed that you’re the translator I require to understand what the fuck Shakespeare is saying.”

He needed a tutor. Of course. Life made sense again. Air filled my lungs, the world stopped spinning on its axis, and I was back on solid ground. I should have guessed that this was the reason he had been looking for me the moment I realized the husky timbre belonged to him.

“Is it Hamlet or Macbeth that is giving you difficulty?” I asked, relieved that my voice hadn’t cracked or hitched. My heart was still racing even if my head had caught up with what was happening here.

He smirked. “Romeo and Juliet.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t get to choose which of his works that you wanted to analyze and review? I mean, I’m assuming you’re taking British Literature with Ms. Richie. She always lets you choose.”

I knew that seniors were tasked with choosing one of Shakespeare’s works every October and doing a complete literary analysis and review. I was only a junior, but I’d been helping seniors delve into Shakespeare and understand his writing since my freshman year. Because of this, I also knew that the student got to choose their own Shakespeare piece—or they had in the past.

Ransom Carver picking Romeo and Juliet was the equivalent of the entire football team showing up in pink leotards and tutus tomorrow and performing Swan Lake on the stage in the theater. And I wasn’t exaggerating. I was serious. The swagger with the edge of danger that came off Ransom was in the form of massive, powerful waves.

“I’m feeling a bit judged,” he drawled.

I opened my mouth, closed it, and opened it again before blurting out, “You just don’t seem like the Romeo and Juliet type. I mean, it’s a tragic romance, and normally, it’s girls who choose that one. It’s only ever been females that I helped with it, but I’m, uh—I was, uh—what I mean is that maybe you didn’t know what it was about.” I decided to stop with my rambling as I stared at him. Not zoning in on the slight cleft in his chin or that ridiculously chiseled jaw of his was hard, but I managed. For the most part.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >77

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Hell or High Water (Mississippi Smoke #5) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/hell-or-high-water-mississippi-smoke-5-read-online-abbi-glines Thu, 01 May 2025 18:18:54 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/hell-or-high-water-mississippi-smoke-5-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Bad Boy, Erotic, Forbidden Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >95

Montana

Momma hadn’t been gone from the world for twenty-four hours before the first letter showed up. Blue paper, folded into an origami heart, left where the writer knew I’d find it. Dealing with my grief, I was able to put it out of my mind until the next one came, then the next. Each one more disturbing than the last. Until I woke up to find one beside me.
He’d watched me sleep.

Only desperation could drive me to ask the man who had fertilized my momma’s egg for help. I preferred to forget him and his existence, just like he had us… me. But with Momma gone, I had no one, and I needed a safe place to escape—out of this town and away from the stranger who was stalking me.

To say I was shocked that he turned me down would be a lie. I’d expected as much. He’d left me with no choice but to threaten to expose his sins to the God-fearing people of Mississippi who placed him in office. The nineteen-year-old daughter of a stripper he’d knocked up and deserted would know a lot about his transgressions.

However, the two men he sent to get me weren’t what I’d been expecting, but I didn’t really have much of a choice. It was trust the devil I knew or stay and live in fear of the one I didn’t.

Than

Waking up hung over and naked on the sofa of a friend’s house wasn’t out of character for me. Being woken up and told I was being ordered to babysit the Governor’s accidental offspring was another. It wasn’t fair that I’d been handed this task. Why me? I didn’t want to watch some stripper’s daughter who had decided to blackmail the governor. Why didn’t we have the philandering bastard hand over hush money, and then we could put enough fear in her that she kept her mouth shut?

When I didn’t believe it could get any worse, the stripper’s daughter opened the cheap ass motel room door she had been staying in and knocked the wind out of my chest

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Playlist

Pretty Little Devil

Shaya Zamora

Do it Like a Girl

Morgan St. Jean

I’m Gonna Show You Crazy

Bebe Rexha

Lose Control

Teddy Swims

Call Me Devil

Friends in Tokyo

Power Over Me

Dermont Kennedy

Shadows

Sabrina Carpenter

Pretty Little Poison

Warren Zeiders

Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You

Brooks & Dunn

Never Say Never

Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson

Sin So Sweet

Warren Zeiders

The Champion

Carrie Underwood and Ludacris

Devil I Know

Allie X

No Mercy

Austin Giorgio

Shoot Me Dead

Cameron Whitcomb

Prologue

Montana

The scent was one I’d grown up with. It was likely I had even smelled it in the womb. There were folks who stuck their noses up at it and complained about it, and those who craved it and couldn’t walk away from it, no matter the cost.

My momma had once been the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I’d wanted to be just like her—that was, until I understood her. We were an odd pair. While my friends believed she was the coolest mom around, I knew better. As much as I loved her, I wished she were different.

Even now, as I sat in her bedroom, watching her shrivel up as the disease took more and more of her every passing second. She was only thirty-eight, and just like her momma, she would die too young, leaving her daughter behind to figure out life. I’d never met my grandmother. She had been taken by the same thing that was taking Momma. Some got to smoke for decades and not face the consequences, but not the Carrigan women.

When I’d been old enough to understand how my grandmother had died, I had begged my momma to stop smoking.

But she’d just smile at me with her red-painted lips. “Tana, baby, it’s my meal. You like living in this house and having nice things? Well, I can’t gain a pound. It’s a miracle you didn’t ruin me with stretch marks.”

Momma had been a stripper from the age of eighteen until she turned thirty-three. When she turned thirty-three, the smoking and years had started showing on her. She took over the job of managing the dancers until two years later, when the coughing started. Then the diagnosis. It had all changed after that.

Thankfully, I’d managed to stay in school and work a job to help pay the bills. But we’d used every last penny of Momma’s savings. Especially the last four months, when she’d gotten so bad that she couldn’t even sit at the computer and handle the office tasks that Peg—the owner of the club where she worked—would give her so that she still got a paycheck.

In less than three months, I would graduate high school…and I knew my momma wouldn’t be there to see it. She’d never gotten her high school diploma or even a GED. She’d dropped out at eighteen and started working at Diamond Club when her momma died. I didn’t want that. I was so close though. I wasn’t like Momma. The idea of dancing in nothing but a sparkly G-string and stilettos in front of men was something I knew I could never do. Momma had come into this world oozing confidence—or at least, that was what she’d told me her mother used to say—but I hadn’t.

For the past two months, as Momma faded, I’d lie in bed at night, wondering how I’d feel about that smell of nicotine when she was gone. Would I hate it? Despise it for what it had taken from me? Or would I think of her and wish more than anything for her arms to wrap around me one more time? But the real question burning in the back of my head that I was afraid to acknowledge was, what would I do? How would I survive? I couldn’t pay the bills and the mortgage without her income and still go to school. The house would have to be sold. We were already a month behind on mortgage payments. We should have put it up for sale months ago.

“You go make him help you,” Momma wheezed.

I shook my head. We’d had this conversation before.

“I want nothing to do with him,” I replied.

She knew that, but she kept insisting that I go to Mississippi and demand the man who had knocked her up at nineteen help me until I could graduate and work full-time.

“He owes you. He—” She stopped, struggling to inhale, and I winced.

“Please, Momma. Don’t talk. Just relax.”

The effort it took for her to pick up her arm and move it toward me so she could hold out her hand in my direction was another ache in my heart. I’d painted her nails her favorite color of OPI Big Apple Red just two days ago. I moved closer and encased her frail hand in both of mine.

“He owes me,” she rasped, then coughed weakly.

“We never needed him, and I’ll be damned if I go ask him to help me now,” I told her. “I’ll be fine. You don’t worry about that. I’m a badass, like my momma.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >95

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Still Burning (Judgement #4) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/still-burning-judgement-4-read-online-abbi-glines Thu, 17 Apr 2025 13:19:00 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/still-burning-judgement-4-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Biker, Contemporary, Crime, Erotic, Mafia, MC Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Judgement Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >68

“Not looking for closure. I don’t close a good book until the story ends.”

And ours started when I was sixteen. Eighteen years later, we had become different people, living another life than the one we had imagined then. One without each other. Having Rome Bower back in my life had been more than a blast from the past. My soul had felt at home again. Turns out he wasn’t just my first love but he’d been the only one to truly own my heart.

Loving him was easy, surviving him was hard. And I had a secret that was best left alone. There was no need to drag up painful memories that he didn’t need to know. Not even when someone else gets the one thing I’ve wanted more than anything else. I refuse to be the distraction that will one day leave him with a world of regrets.

But then, I may not have that choice to make. When our second chance is being tested, and we are holding on tightly to what we have found, it is snatched away by a man with my dead husband’s face. I know too much, and the Irishman known as The Ghost can’t allow that.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

Salem

Eighteen Years Ago

My hands trembled as I held the plastic stick and stared down at the two pink lines. I reached out and gripped the sink in front of me when my knees started to give out. Could this be wrong? Was there such a thing as a false positive on a pregnancy test?

I had no one I could ask. No mother. And Vanna…we’d buried her two days ago.

Rome had been withdrawn and even raised his voice angrily when I mentioned staying longer. My professors had given me two weeks off to grieve the loss of Vanna—who, I’d told them, had raised me, but that wasn’t entirely true. I was getting the notes I missed through my email and recordings of my lectures. I’d taken my first test yesterday through a link that had been sent to me. I was scheduled for another one tomorrow. His reaction to my staying hadn’t made sense. I’d have thought he wanted me here.

I’d told myself that my period was late because of the emotional trauma of seeing Vanna in her last few days, dealing with the aftermath of losing her, and Rome. He hadn’t been the same since we’d left the hospital after she was pronounced dead.

But every day, my anxiety that it hadn’t come got so severe that I was losing sleep. So, I’d bought this to make myself feel better.

Instead, I felt as if the solid ground I had been standing on had been pulled out from under me, and I was left clinging to something to hold on to. How would I tell Rome this right now? He didn’t need this kind of pressure and worry. It could be wrong. I could buy another one. My bank account was getting dangerously low since I wasn’t able to work. But my job was there, not here.

I had to be sure. Before I told him, I needed to be positive. Or maybe even wait a little while. Give him time to adjust to life without his mother.

I closed my eyes tightly and sucked in a breath. I was going to be okay. It was fine. Rome would be by my side if I was pregnant. I wouldn’t be alone. We’d work this out.

Opening my eyes back up, I lifted my gaze to stare at my reflection in the mirror. I looked the same. There was nothing new about my appearance. This had to be wrong. I probably hadn’t done it correctly. What did I know about pregnancy tests? I’d never seen one until today. I should have read the instructions more carefully. That was all.

Rome still hadn’t come home from work. I’d suggested he not go in this week and take some time, but he’d been adamant that he needed to be there. He wanted the distraction. The way he’d been talking to me, his tone of voice, was so different that I didn’t push. It was as if he didn’t want to be forced to discuss anything. He was gruff and on edge. There was a slight panicky feeling inside my chest when I thought too hard about it. I was being too sensitive and needed to give him space. I’d been doing my best to do just that, but right now, I needed to see him.

I needed the reassurance of having him close. Knowing I wasn’t alone. That he wanted me. The insecurity that I’d lived with most of my life started to nudge me, reminding me it was a monster that hadn’t truly gone away. Rome and Vanna had just made me forget that it lingered in the darkness of my mind. A quiet whisper, telling me I wasn’t worth loving. That I was flawed. That I was unwanted. It grew louder in my ear every time Rome pulled away from me. Seeing him would put it back in its place. Locked away.

The eight-year-old Honda Civic that Vanna had helped me buy before I left for college was almost empty, and I’d need to put gas in it to get back from the bike repair shop where Rome worked, but I could get there at least. More money I didn’t need to be spending, but my mental health required that I see Rome.

Driving the twenty-three miles to him was fast since most of it was on the interstate. The closer I got, the more anxious I became. I was afraid I’d see him and blurt it out. I knew I couldn’t do that. He’d been through enough this past week.

Before I said anything, I was going to take another test. I had to be sure. This could all be a mistake, and there was no reason to get Rome upset over it. I was upset enough for both of us.

I pulled up beside his bike and parked, then hurried out of my car. The smell of cigarettes lingered in the air as I made my way to the shop. I wondered if Rome had come outside to smoke. He’d been doing it a lot this week. His mom would have been so upset about that, but I wasn’t going to say that to him. If that helped him cope, then it wouldn’t do any permanent damage if it was just while he was grieving. At least, I didn’t think it would.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >68

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Old Flame (Judgement #3) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/old-flame-judgement-3-read-online-abbi-glines Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:24:55 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/old-flame-judgement-3-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Biker, Dark, Erotic, Insta-Love, Mafia, MC Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Judgement Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >86

Once, he had been my entire world. If he'd asked, I’d have given up every dream and plan I had for him. But he hadn’t asked. The day we lost Vanna, his mother, and the closest thing I’d ever had to one, I’d lost him too.

Eighteen years later, I’m back in Florida, trying to create a new life for myself after a year of going through the motions since my husband’s death. It’s probably best we don’t know the future because I wouldn’t have walked into that bar if I’d known my eyes would collide with the boy who had shattered me long ago.

But Rome wasn’t that boy anymore. He was a biker with a leather vest, tattoos, and piercings.

While I’d been mesmerized by the man he’d become, all he’d had to say to me was that I had gotten old. Leaving to never step foot back there again, fate plays a cruel twist where the new life I thought I’d found turns out to be a lie constructed by someone I trusted most, and the only one to save me is a biker named Tex

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Rome

Eighteen Years Ago

My fingers dug into my scalp as I sat, holding my head in both hands. The burn in my chest felt as if it was reaching a point that was unbearable. She needed me, and I had to get back in that room. But I required a moment to get myself under control. I hadn’t been sure if I was going to put the hard chair I’d been sleeping in all night through the wall or burst into tears and bury my face into the mattress beside her.

This wasn’t fair. Her life hadn’t been fair.

Rage, hate, helplessness, all spiraling together, were a dangerous combination. It took your breath away. I craved an outlet, but had none. Not here. Not within these fucking walls.

Until the day I died, there would never be a smell that I abhorred more than that of a hospital. It was here where I’d been told about her cancer. Here where she’d barely survived the last surgery. And I knew it was going to be here where she closed her eyes for the last time.

“Rome.” The soft voice said my name, and with it came relief.

My chest eased, although the pain remained, and the anger released its talons. I jerked my head up and stared into the face of my very own fucking angel. The agony reflected in her cornflower-blue eyes matched my own.

I stood up, towering over her five-foot-five frame, and pulled her against my chest. Able to take my first deep breath, I sucked in air as her arms wrapped around me. Bending down, I buried my nose in her hair. If there were a balm for the soul, then Salem Gray was mine.

“You got my message.” My voice was hoarse with the lack of sleep and emotion clogging my throat.

She clung to my shirt and nodded. “I was at the studio. I’d left my phone charging and put it on Silent since it was so late. I didn’t see it until two hours later. I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”

I ran a hand through her long, silky black hair, keeping her head against my chest. With her like this, I felt strong enough. She gave me strength as much as she did solace. I didn’t know how the hell I’d survived the past year without holding her every day.

My eyes closed as her warmth seeped into me, pushing out the cold that had been buried deep within my chest.

She’d last been in my arms two weeks ago, and every time she left, it was getting harder to watch her drive away. Keeping her with me, beside me, beneath me…

My hands tightened instantly as the memory of her throwing her head back, crying out my name, sent a bolt of need straight to my dick. God, even now, here, facing my fucking worst nightmare, Salem could make me hard. She’d been doing it so easily since she had been too young for me to be noticing. But so fucking beautiful for me to miss.

Her sniffle was the reminder I needed that she wasn’t here for me to sink my cock into.

“Is she…is she awake, alert?” Salem’s voice was thick with a sorrow that mirrored my own.

Pulling myself together, I lifted my head and nodded. “Yeah. She’ll want to see you.”

Salem’s eyes were wet with tears. Her long black eyelashes were spiky as she wiped at her face and took in a deep, unsteady breath. Stepping back from me, she gave me a smile so fucking heartbreaking that I fought the need to reach up and rub my chest.

“I don’t want her to see me like this.” She let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. More tears continued to fall, and she worked diligently to catch them. “I can already hear her telling me, Don’t you start crying over what is meant to be, Salem. Just keep walking the path and find the beauty in the road ahead.”

The first smile in what felt like weeks tugged at the corners of my mouth. “That sounds just like Momma,” I agreed. “You even got her Alabama twang down.”

Salem pressed her full pink lips together. “Whew,” she said, blinking several times and straightening her shoulders. “I’m good. I can do this.”

Momma wasn’t going to be fooled. Salem’s red-rimmed eyes hinted at the crying she must have been doing on her drive down here from Savannah.

Since Salem had left back in August for her freshman year in college, I’d found that I hated the state of Georgia. It had taken her from me. Mom’s illness had brought Salem home often, and taking care of Momma had kept me preoccupied for the most part. But there were those days when I literally ached to get on my Harley and go to her.

I cupped her face with my hand, which appeared large and tanned against her porcelain skin. “Just let me look at you for a minute.” My voice was raspy and thick.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >86

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Outlaw (Mississippi Smoke #4) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/outlaw-mississippi-smoke-4-read-online-abbi-glines Wed, 12 Feb 2025 07:22:29 +0000 https://www.wownovels.com/outlaw-mississippi-smoke-4-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Crime, Mafia, New Adult Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >117

“They were kings, and for a brief part of my life, I was allowed to live inside their kingdom.”

Branwen

Little girls grow up, and time steals their innocence. Memories fade, and things you love change. Except for me. You see, I fell in love at first sight when I was six years old. The problem with that was he was a grown man. My young heart had believed that he belonged to me. That should have faded with time. It didn’t. Although I hadn’t seen him in over twenty years, I still found myself measuring up the men I dated to him. That was until the day he walked into a nightclub in Vegas and sat down beside me at the bar.

He didn’t recognize the woman I had become, but I knew exactly who he was. My heart had soared, and the flutters in my stomach that no one else had ever stirred came roaring back to life. Fate had brought him back to me.

Waking up in his suite alone the next morning with a note and a morning after pill with no way to contact him had taught me that flutters were not to be trusted and that fate was a mean bitch.

Five years later, I am engaged, happy, and about to give my four-year-old daughter the life I want for her, complete with a white picket fence and a father.

That is… until I find out that I can’t get married. Because I already am.

Linc

The fact I never asked a woman I slept with her name served a purpose. If I didn’t know it, then I wouldn’t have to remember it. No getting them confused and saying the wrong one in the heat of the moment. Hell, I didn’t remember most of their faces. I got what I needed and left. My life wasn’t meant for relationships. I’d tried it. My ex-wife now lives in Europe with her current husband.

The day I walked outside to find the gorgeous blonde I’d had a wild drunken night with in Vegas five years ago handing me divorce papers and demanding I sign them, I’d been sure it was a joke or scheme to get money. The tiny replica of her that crawled out of the backseat of her car, however, struck me with an odd familiarity I couldn’t place. My gut had clenched tightly, and I knew my world had just changed. The paternity test confirmed it.

This woman who had been number one in my spank bank for five years had lied to me. Stolen the first four and a half years of my daughter’s life from me. She may have the face and body of an angel, but she was cruel.

The man she planned on marrying and bringing into my daughter’s life wasn’t happening. I’d end that. I was going to be the only father she had. I wasn’t sharing her with a stepfather.

If I had to make sure her mother only wanted me, then I’d do it. When she was addicted to me, and I owned her soul- she was going to suffer. I wouldn’t hurt her body, but I would break her heart. Over and over again.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Branwen

The smell of hay, cigars, and sunshine still haunted my dreams all these years later. My dad’s deep belly laugh, his big smile, and thick Southern drawl were also weaved within them. Reminding me of a time when everything had seemed simple. Perfect. Easy. If only it were just my father’s memory that came back to me when I slept, then I would wake up with a warmth in my chest instead of an ache that had become my constant.

Eyes the color of the sky as a storm churned; dark brown hair, left long enough to pull it back at his nape with string from a feed sack; a black cowboy hat on his head; dirty, worn snakeskin boots; and a crooked grin that was mine alone. He’d never smiled at anyone else like he did me, and it’d made me feel special.

Linc Shephard had stolen my six-year-old heart from the instant he walked into the stables at my daddy’s new job and looked down at me.

He had smiled and reached for one of my wild curls that were never tamed. Wrapping it around his finger, he chuckled. “Well, hello, Ringlets. I didn’t know Demeter had such a pretty little helper.”

It hadn’t taken me long to realize he was important. Him and the others who were always around. They were kings, and for a brief part of my life, I was allowed to live inside their kingdom. The way others respected them wasn’t lost on me. When they arrived, the workers at the stables all quieted with a reverence as they went about their jobs more diligently. Even my daddy, who was the head horse trainer and told the others what to do, treated them with a respect he didn’t show anyone else.

When I got a glimpse of them, no matter how far away they might be, my eyes would search him out. Looking for the face that outshone the rest.

That was what I’d lived for. Seeing Linc smile at me.

He would always wink, and I’d go running to him. His amused laugh as he waited for me would make my heart flutter like a swarm of butterflies in my chest.

A memory flooded my mind, and I let it play out, knowing I shouldn’t…

“Miss me that much, Ringlets?” he asked me, dropping down to his haunches so he could look me in the eye instead of towering over me.

“You’ve been gone for days,” I accused him, not realizing why he would go missing for gaps at a time.

He reached behind him and pulled out a yellow daisy. “But I came to check on my favorite girl as soon as I had the chance,” he told me, then tucked the flower behind my ear. “Remember what I told you about boys and flowers?”

I nodded. “That even an outlaw can give a girl flowers. But not to trust one because he brings them to me,” I replied. “But I trust you, and you always bring me one,” I added. Because I did trust him. Maybe even more than my daddy.

He shook his head. “See now, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m the worst kinda outlaw, Ringlets.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think you’re an outlaw. I think you’re a king.”

He smirked, and I heard laughter behind me, but I ignored it.

“You can fool them at any age with that fucking charm of yours.” The voice that I knew belonged to Creed Kingston sounded gruff and sarcastic.

I didn’t turn around and glare at the giant man. I kept my focus on Linc.

Linc’s eyes flicked up to him. “Not this one. She’s too smart.”

“Let’s hope so and that her taste changes with age,” he drawled, then nodded his head toward the big house. “Garrett is waiting on us. We need to go.”

Garrett was the boss. I’d heard Daddy say that many times. They were all scared of him, even if they didn’t say it. Everyone at the stables would speak about him as if he was to be feared. He looked the same age as Linc, but he owned all this. The stables, the big house, the land that Daddy said went on for miles.

Linc’s eyes met mine again. “I’ll be back later, and you can show me the new colt.”

I nodded my head vigorously. Wanting nothing more than a reason to have Linc all to myself. When I had his full attention, my world was complete.

“Boss called. Everyone, up to the house now!” Kenneth Houston shouted from the entrance on the other side of the stables.

Linc tapped a finger to the tip of my nose, then stood up. “You take care of that colt for me, Ringlets,” he said.

Then, I watched as he walked away with Creed, wishing more than anything that he could have stayed a little longer.

I touched my bright yellow daisy and smiled. I’d add it to my others tonight when I got home. I kept every single one that my outlaw had given to me.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >117

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Oh Hell No (Mississippi Smoke #3) Read Online Abbi Glines http://www.wownovels.com/oh-hell-no-mississippi-smoke-3-read-online-abbi-glines Tue, 28 Jan 2025 08:15:17 +0000 https://www.wownovels.com/oh-hell-no-mississippi-smoke-3-read-online-abbi-glines Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Erotic, Mafia, Suspense Authors: Abbi Glines Series: Mississippi Smoke Series by Abbi Glines
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Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)

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Taking her was a means to an end. The task was to weed out the man who had stolen millions from us. He may have succeeded, but he’d pay with his life. Hiding from us was a grave error he’d regret soon enough because once he found out that we had taken the one thing he cared for as repayment- he’d show up. When a man had a weakness, it was foolish to make a mistake like this. He would come for her, and when he did, he wouldn’t walk away unscathed, nor would the sister he adored.

This was my fault. I hadn’t seen his scheme. It was my mistake, so I had to fix it. However, it seemed the joke was on me. What I had thought would be an easy job proved more difficult than I’d imagined. I had underestimated the power of her big brown eyes, full lips, and sweet, sultry voice. Keeping my focus on torturing information from her- when what I really wanted to do was touch her, have her, own her- would not only be a painful obstacle but possibly my biggest failure.

Except she hated the sight of me.
But I couldn’t blame her.
I’d walked out of her nightmares as her own personal monster.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Winslet

December 12, 2013

I do not hate my mother. I do not hate my mother.

Glancing down at my younger brother’s black eye and bloody nose as I pulled him close to me while I hid us in the bathroom closet, I decided there was no use in lying to myself.

I hated my mother.

She was a terrible human. I didn’t care that she was an alcoholic and her daddy had sexually abused her when she was a child. That was no excuse for her to throw Perry against a wall and curse at him because he’d used the last of the milk in his cereal.

Perry had been born two months early. He’d always been small for his age. Mom had never forgiven him for it either.

My eyes stung with unshed tears as I clenched my teeth tightly and tried to think of mean things to keep me from crying like a baby. Perry needed me to be strong. I was all he had. I was all he’d ever had. Thankfully, I wasn’t weak.

I didn’t know for sure who our fathers were, but I did know they were not the same. There were very little similarities between us. We shared our mother’s brown eyes. That was it.

“She’s been quiet awhile.” Perry’s soft words weren’t even loud enough to be considered a whisper.

I nodded. She had stopped ranting and throwing things, but that didn’t mean she was passed out. This wasn’t our first time hiding from her, and I knew from experience that coming out too early could mean she was still ready to take a swing at Perry or me if I stood in her way. And I always stood in her way.

I had been late getting home from school today because of some extra credit I had signed up for in the library. I should have known better. Allowing Perry to come inside the apartment without me was a bad idea. We never knew what mood she would be in or how drunk she might be.

It was too dark for me to see the damage on Perry’s face and assess how bad it was. I’d lowered the washcloth I had pressed to his nose to stop the bleeding he had several minutes ago. Knowing it had worked was a relief. But his eye was going to draw attention at school. Miss Luneze, the counselor, would see it, and she’d start asking questions again. I knew she meant well, but if she told anyone about Mom, they’d take Perry away from me. Then, who would take care of him?

He grunted, and I realized my arms had tightened around him when I thought about some stranger walking in and taking him away. I knew they would take me, too, but it was very unlikely we would be placed in the same home. It was a chance I wasn’t willing to take.

Perry needed me. Kids picked on him at school. To get Bartley Headson to stop bullying Perry—putting him in the trash can, knocking his books out of his hands, and giving him awful wedgies—I had agreed to sit by Bartley at lunch and let him call me his girlfriend.

I hated Bartley Headson almost as much as I did my mom. But I did it for Perry. Bartley was a spoiled rich kid who was good at all sports. Everyone thought he was so cool. He was a bully. There was nothing cool about him.

“Winzy,” Perry’s hushed tone said, drawing me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“I’m sorry I used the rest of the milk.”

I swallowed against what felt like a rock clogging my throat. He was nine years old. He shouldn’t have to be sorry for eating cereal after school. It wasn’t fair.

“Don’t be. I’m sorry that she is our mother.”

He sniffled, and I felt his head nod against my shoulder. “Me too.”

The floor creaked, and I stiffened, then shoved Perry behind me the best I could in the limited space. When the door opened and the light flooded the darkness, I glared up at my mother, ready to fight before I let her near Perry again. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. I doubted she had brushed it in a week. The golden color of her hair was faded with the brittle, unhealthy look it had, but I had seen photos and knew it had once been as thick and shiny as Perry’s.

“Get out, you!” she screeched, then reached in to grab my arm.

I kicked at her, causing her to stumble backward.

“GO AWAY!” I shouted.

Perry’s body was trembling so hard that I could feel it. That gave me the courage I needed to stand up to her and not cower.

“Get out, you little bitch! He deserves this whooping! All he does is mooch!” She hissed the last word.

I pushed Perry back further before climbing out and quickly slamming the door behind me to keep him locked away and safe.

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