Read Online The Devil's Game by Alex Strong - Free Book Online Page A

around until she found him on the sailboat at the edge of the property. Wearing nothing but shorts, he was shouting to whoever was helping him. She rested on her forearms, taking pleasure in watching him work as he threw ropes about.
    Eventually he caught sight of her and gave a wave.
    “Oh, Karina,” he said as though calling up to Juliet. “I’m taking the boat out today. Care to join me?”
    “I would be delighted to,” she called back.
    “Hurry down then,” he said. “The day is wasting away!”
    Karina raced back into the room and pulled on a bikini, then slipped a tank top over it before wrapping a sarong around her waist. She stepped into some flip flops and then rushed down and out to the boat. She walked across the dock and let Damien help her climb on board, where she fell against his warm torso.
    “Might take a minute to get your sea legs,” he said with a smile as he helped her stand up straight. “Go ahead and sit for a minute while I get us out of here.”
    There weren’t exactly any seats up top, so she just tried to find the safest place to plant her bottom. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she waited. It was bound to be windy.
    The young man who had been helping remained on the dock, watching as Damien expertly guided the craft out into the open water using an outboard motor. Once they were far enough away from shore, Damien gave the man a wave.
    “I’ll call when we’re on our way back,” he shouted.
    “Anything I can do to help?” Karina offered.
    He looked at her and frowned.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    “It’s your shoes. I didn’t think to check before you climbed aboard.”
    “Why?
    “Flip flops are the last thing you want to wear on a boat,” he said.
    “Should I take them off?”
    “It’s your toes I’m worried about. But you should probably take them off anyway. There’s also the risk of spraining your ankle if the boat lurches and you instinctively try to keep the shoe on.”
    Karina pulled them off and set them aside.
    “Sorry,” she said. “It’s my first time on a sailboat.”
    “Do you still want to help?” he asked.
    “Of course.”
    With Damien’s direction, Karina helped get the sail up and pointed in the right direction. It wasn’t long before they were pulling even farther away from the shore, and there was nothing left for her to do while he steered.
    “Would you like to take the helm?” he asked.
    “You trust me with your boat?”
    “It’s not like I won’t be right here.” He scanned the horizon. “And I don’t think I need to worry about you running us into anything.”
    Karina rubbed her hands together as she stepped in next to him. She was shocked to discover it was nothing like steering a car. The wheel pulled as soon as she took hold, and Damien grabbed it quickly before it could make a full rotation, spinning it back into position.
    “The ocean wants to pull you with it,” he said, positioning himself behind her so they could both hold the wheel. “But you can’t let it. You have to be stronger than her.”
    “What happens if you’re not?” she asked, feeling his chest rise against her with each steady breath.
    “Then she’ll eat you alive,” he said in a low voice, his breath hot against her ear, and a shiver swept through her body.
    Eventually Karina got the hang of it and Damien slowly pulled his hands away.
    “You got it?”
    She nodded, fully aware that she was grinning like a fool. She was sailing a boat in the Atlantic. Granted they were still close enough to see the Miami skyline, but that didn’t make it any less exhilarating.
    “Be right back, then,” he said and her grin disappeared. “I’m not going far,” he said with a laugh. She watched him disappear below deck and come back up a few minutes later with a basket. He set it down near a railing and started dropping the sails.
    “There’s a blanket in that box over there,” he said as he locked the steering wheel.
    Karina found it and he