Dancing With Danger

Dancing With Danger

Amelie Bergen · Ongoing · 94.3k Words

904
Hot
905
Views
271
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

“I’ve been wanting this for so long,” I heard myself say.
Jack brushed his lips over the soft skin of my neck. “Me too. You have no idea.”
I let myself go in that moment, needing to just feel as Jack and I moved against one another as one. My heart was slamming against my ribcage as I felt him press against me, his knee gently parting my thighs.


Ballet dancer Mia rushes home to tell her roommate and best friend, Abbie, only to find the girl facedown in a pool of blood.

Mia is thrust into a world of mystery and organized crime as she seeks justice for her late best friend. Things become even more complicated when she develops intense feelings for Jack Drake, the insanely hot detective assigned to the murder case.

As the two work together to solve this mystery, they must work even harder to quell the undeniable desire between them.

Neither is successful.

Dancing with Danger is created by Amelie Bergen, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Facedown

Mia POV

Heart still slamming repeatedly into my ribcage, I blew out a breath that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I leaned against the cream-colored wall of the dance studio hallway, trying to appear casual, but really needing the support as my head spun.

That had to be the best audition I had ever had, and it was for the lead role in Swan Lake of all the possible shows! It was hard to beat down the smugness that was threatening to erupt from within me as I replayed the last few hours in my mind.

I had known to expect a rigorous last day of auditions but I didn’t expect to nail it like I had. The roles would likely be announced within a day or two. The thought made my heart start to do double time once again.

This was the first time I felt overwhelmingly confident after an audition. I had little doubt that I would secure my dream role, the coveted leading part of Odette.

The competition was fierce, but I was prepared to be even more fierce as I strode into the studio earlier that morning with my head held high. I breezed through the warm-up routine, feeling as if I were floating with the familiar and grounding sensation of polished wood beneath my slippers.

It wasn’t until the audition reached its climax with the iconic “White Swan” solo that I began to feel the other eyes watching me in the vast, mirrored room. I felt the eyes of my fellow dancers, reflected in the shining wall opposite us, but I also felt the intense gaze of the panel of ballet masters, carefully judging each move we made.

As the gentle music washed over me, It was easy to forget the fact that they were heavily scrutinizing every graceful leap and step, watching for the tiniest misstep or lack of technique that might take place.

As my fellow dancers and I were thanked and dismissed, I couldn’t help the tiny smile that toyed at the corner of my lips. I had no doubt that I had performed the routine perfectly.

I waited for a couple of girls to disappear around the corner of the hallway before I let the smile spread out across my face. I made my way to the dressing room to gather my things, relieved to find the large room empty.

Everyone else must have already been there and left while I was trying to compose myself in the hallway. As I approached the line of white lockers to grab my stuff, the initial high from the near-flawless audition waned, making way for something else entirely.

My best friend hadn’t made it there.

It wasn’t unheard of for Abigail to oversleep, or to be late. When we were at Julliard together, I had to literally pull her out of bed at times to make sure she made it to classes and other events on time.

She took auditions seriously though. She was always on time for them, although admittedly, she cut it way too close a number of times. I grinned slightly as I pictured the way she would burst through the dressing room doors, just minutes before we were scheduled to meet with the judges, out of breath with wavy hair flying in every direction.

But this was the first time she hadn’t made it at all.

Concern twisted my stomach. I roughly pulled the pins from the bun on top of my head, letting my flaming red hair tumble down my back.

I threw the metal white door of my locker open, fishing around for my phone. I frowned at the screen when I saw that I had no missed calls or texts. This wasn’t like Abbie at all.

I pressed the phone to my ear, biting my lower lip nervously as it continued to ring before going to voicemail.

“Abbie,” I said into the phone. I chuckled lightly. “You better have a damn good excuse this time. I’m on my way home, and you’re going to make this up to me when I get there!”

“I doubt your little friend has a good excuse.”

I nearly dropped my phone as I whirled around to face the nasty voice. I narrowed my eyes at Natalia.

“Fellow dancer” would be too kind a term to describe that witch. She decided on day one that she hated Abbie and me, throwing us dirty looks and trying to make us look bad in front of our dance instructors.

She learned quickly that Abbie and I were too skilled to fall for her little tricks as she tried to trip us during practices.

I openly glared at her, frustrated that I had to tilt my head up to do so as she sneered down at me. She might be a witch, but she was a beautiful one.

I hated to admit it, but her tall, lean figure and smooth auburn-colored hair spoke for themselves. She was one of those girls that never had a hair out of place and made sure to act like it.

My hands twitched, the sudden urge to slap her across her pretty face overwhelming, but I forced a passive expression. “Abbie wouldn’t have missed today if she didn’t have a good reason.”

Natalia just rolled her eyes, one hand resting on her hip, her black leotard accentuating her limber body. “I’d hardly call nursing a hangover a good reason.”

I gritted my teeth, taking a deep breath to calm myself. Natalia had run into us on an unfortunate night months before. Abbie had just been through a nasty breakup and drank herself silly at a nearby dive bar in Manhattan. She had been a mess, make-up running down her face, and barely able to walk.

I’d never forget the shock followed by the pure delight when Natalia caught us leaving the bar, with Abbie leaning heavily against me. Since then, she’d been spreading rumors that Abbie was an alcoholic, despite the fact that my friend hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since that night.

It took every ounce of self-control I could muster to swallow my pride and smile pleasantly at Natalia.

“Look, I really don’t have time for this. Great job out there. May the best dancer win, and all that jazz.” I quickly grabbed my baby pink duffle bag and attempted to slip past her.

Unfortunately, I noticed her calculating look a second too late before she seemed to trip over nothing and stomped on my foot. Hard. I yelped and dropped all my things, but managed to stay upright.

Several obscenities flew through my mind at that moment, but I just glared silently at her, picked up my bag, and fled from the room. I didn’t have time to deal with her.

I couldn’t help but slam the dressing room door behind me. I winced and wiggled the toes of the foot she had stepped on and was relieved that nothing was broken.

Anger welled up inside me as I hurried out the doors of the studio and immediately hailed a taxi to take me home. It was no secret that it would have been devastating to have a foot injury as a ballet dancer. Natalia was taking this rivalry between us too far.

As I buckled myself into the backseat of the smelly cab, I replayed the audition in my head once again, lingering on the moments when I felt the most confident and graceful. It had gone so well, and I wasn’t going to let Natalia ruin it for me.

I called Abbie again, planning to complain to her about the bitch, but this time, her phone went straight to voicemail. Unease filled me as I stuffed my phone in my bag. I reasoned that she must have misplaced her phone, which was more common than I thought was humanly possible for a girl in her mid-twenties.

I tried to calm the mother hen that was rising in me. Abbie and I had been roommates for just over three years now, and it was more than enough time for me to learn how clumsy and accident-prone the girl was.

She was the type of girl that would walk into poles and trip over ladybugs. Miraculously, when she danced, she was as graceful and sure-footed as a dancer with triple her experience.

I practically flew out of the cab once it stopped in front of our shabby apartment complex. I hurried through the doors leading into the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time until I felt my phone vibrate.

Finally! I frowned when it wasn’t Abbie’s name that appeared on my screen, but my heart started to beat wildly when my brain registered who it was.

“Hello, this is Mia.” My voice squeaked and I swallowed thickly.

I could feel the world around me disappearing as I struggled to make sense of the magic words that the producer of our dance company was saying. My shocked brain barely processed the most important ones: Congratulations … impressed with your performance … lead role … Odette … excited to work with you.

My lips were barely moving as I struggled to respond. “I really got the part?”

“Yes! Congratulations again, my dear. We’ll be in touch soon with the next steps.”

I finally snapped out of my shock long enough to be able to thank the producer profusely before ending the call. I stood there dumbly for several moments, just staring down at my phone.

My breaths were coming out as pants as what had just happened sunk in. I let out an excited shriek that echoed through the dank stairwell before I resumed my thunderous ascent up to the fifteenth floor of the building.

I was completely out of breath when I finally made it to our floor. With shaking hands, I fumbled to grab my keys to our apartment, excited to tell Abbie that I got the part. If it had been anyone else in her position, I’d be nervous to tell her, worried she’d be jealous, but Abbie had a heart of gold and I knew she’d be nothing but happy for me.

I froze in confusion as I approached our door. It was ajar. Frowning, I nudged it open with my foot. I squinted into the pitch darkness of our living room, my confusion multiplying.

“Abbie!” I called out, feeling the wall behind me so I could flip the lights on. “Why the hell is it so dark in here–”

I somehow swallowed the scream in my throat.

Blood. Everywhere. On our plush blue sofa, the coffee table we had picked out together, and the framed pictures of us on the opposite wall. Most of it was on our polished wood floor, a huge pool of it.

And my best friend, Abigail, was facedown in the middle of it.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

955.5k Views · Completed · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
Tempted By The Enemy

Tempted By The Enemy

4k Views · Completed · rituparna darolia
Twenty-two-year-old Alyssa Van Every is in a dilemma. Her close friend, Sienna, is marrying billionaire, Lucas Donnelly who, along with his brothers, happens to be her older brother, Alex's sworn enemy.
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
Game of Destiny

Game of Destiny

1.3m Views · Completed · Dripping Creativity
Amie's wolf hasn't shown herself. But who cares? She has a good pack, best friends and a family who loves her. Everyone, including the Alpha, is telling her she is perfect just the way she is. That is until she finds her mate and he rejects her. Heartbroken Amie flees from everything and start over. No more werewolves, no more packs.

When Finlay finds her, she is living among humans. He is smitten by the stubborn wolf that refuse to acknowledge his existence. She may not be his mate, but he wants her to be a part of his pack, latent wolf or not.

Amie cant resist the Alpha that comes into her life and drags her back into pack life. Not only does she find herself happier than she has been in a long time, her wolf finally comes to her. Finlay isn't her mate, but he becomes her best friend. Together with the other top wolves in the pack, they work to create the best and strongest pack.

When it's time for the pack games, the event that decides the packs rank for the coming ten year, Amie needs to face her old pack. When she sees the man that rejected her for the first time in ten years, everything she thought she knew is turned around. Amie and Finlay need to adapt to the new reality and find a way forward for their pack. But will the curve ball split them apart?
Bella and Her Beast

Bella and Her Beast

19.7k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
For all the little girls who grew up wondering what happens after the prince kisses the girl—this is the story they never told you.
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?

.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.6m Views · Ongoing · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Where I End and She Begins

Where I End and She Begins

1.1k Views · Completed · Briana Wilson
Amelia is starting high school with her best friend Lola — confident, magnetic, fearless Lola — the girl who makes the world feel manageable. While Amelia juggles grief, an absent father, and the heavy responsibility of raising her younger brothers, Lola is her escape. Her courage. Her voice. The version of herself she wishes she could be.
But when a body lies at Amelia’s feet, and her hands are covered in blood that isn’t hers, one question echoes louder than the rest:
How did it come to this?
As the school year unfolds, cracks begin to show — in friendships, in family, and in Amelia’s own mind. The lines between loyalty and control blur. Between truth and perception. Between who she is… and who she thinks she needs to be.
Because some friendships don’t just shape you.
They consume you.
And when the illusion shatters, there’s always something left behind.
Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate

Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate

2.3k Views · Ongoing · Sherryann Martinez
R18 MATURE CONTENT

Beautiful Aubrianne Ivanov, raised by her single mom, had a tough childhood. With low self-esteem, she became an outcast and was alone one too many times for her liking. Time spent at her part time job, she eventually grew into a brave, confident, and determined young woman who walked right into an opportunity that would change her life forever.

Will Aubrianne truly feel whole? Will she find what has been missing in her life? Will she allow herself happiness and joy? Will she find love, and most importantly, will she survive what's to come?

Join Aubrianne on her journey as she discovers who/what she is and navigates all the heartbreak, betrayal, drama, and exciting and thrilling events that come her way...

Excerpt:

She lay before him in all her magnificent beauty draped across his king-size bed in the most compelling and provocative way known to man or beast. And for Alpha Zayne, it was the most captivating view he had ever had the pleasure of seeing with his own eyes.

She stared at his every movement, lips slightly parted, her stunning brown eyes scanning every inch of his gorgeously toned and glorious body while heat radiated off of hers. He was HERS.

Her body trembled in delight and anticipation; she was ready and wanted to be with him in every way.

As innocent as she was, she wanted him to...no need him to take her in the worse ways, bringing her to heights of pleasures she had never experienced before.

Fuck she is beautiful, one fine specimen, and she is all MINE, MY MATE. A wave of pure unbridled possessiveness vibrated through Alpha Zayne. He thanked the Divine Moon Goddess, for she has truly blessed him.

He drank her in, eyes trailing up her toned sexy legs spread wide for him, and she gave him that come-and-get-it look.
Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix

Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix

3.8k Views · Ongoing · Kit Bryan
Have you ever seen a screaming toddler and thought, wow, they just can’t be the same good-natured kid who was eating cereal ten minutes ago?
Well… Sometimes you just might turn out to be right.
It turns out, the fae stole my little brother. In his place? A pixie with boundary issues and a talent for home repairs.
I’ve spent my life taking care of everyone else. So when my baby brother is taken, I don’t hesitate. I walk straight into a faerie mansion and make a bargain with its infuriatingly charming master.
Kie is everything you’d expect from a dangerous fae, beautiful, political, and entirely too amused by me. Power wrapped in a smirk. Sensual, mischievous, and far too aware of the effect he has on people. He agrees to help me find my brother.
For a price.
Now I’m bound by a faerie bargain and navigating a world of glamour, manipulation, and ancient rules I definitely should have learned sooner, enchanted forests, political games, magical contracts, and a fae lord who treats seduction like a perfectly reasonable negotiation tactic.
Iron is how I keep people out.
Glamour is how he draws them in.
And apparently, they just don’t mix.
Where The Ice Gives Way

Where The Ice Gives Way

80.8k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Charlotte Pierce is used to surviving in motion. New towns, new schools, the same old house on the edge of nowhere, and the same rule that keeps her standing. Keep her twin brother, Charlie safe. Keep his hockey dream alive. Keep her own needs quiet. She works too much, sleeps too little, and saves the one thing that still feels like hers for the middle of the night, when she can lace up her worn skates and carve freedom into dangerous frozen ice. Charlotte and Charlie shifted once, years ago, and never understood what it meant. They had no pack, no guidance and no protection. Just two twins clinging to each other and pretending the voice in their heads was stress, imagination, or loneliness. Then they move to Wellington.
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)

Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
The Ice Between Us.

The Ice Between Us.

1.7k Views · Completed · Nora Obeche
In the world of elite hockey, discipline is the only currency that matters. For Julian Thorne, the perfectionist Captain of the Northwood Olympic Center, every stride is calculated, and every emotion is frozen solid. He is one season away from the pros, but the team is drowning under public scrutiny and a board of directors looking for any reason to cut the cord.

​Then comes Jax Miller.

​Jax is a hotheaded rookie with a lightning-fast puck and a reputation for burning bridges. He doesn't follow playbooks, he doesn't respect authority, and he’s determined to melt Julian’s icy composure. When a viral video of their on-ice collision threatens to bankrupt the program, Coach Clain delivers an ultimatum that feels like a death sentence: they must live together in a cramped, two-bed dorm for the duration of the season.

​Forced to navigate the high-stakes world of sports fame, "forbidden" locker-room tension, and the mysterious blackmailer who caught their first mistake on camera, Julian and Jax must decide what’s more dangerous: losing their careers, or losing themselves to the person they were supposed to hate.
A pack of their own

A pack of their own

2.1m Views · Completed · dragonsbain22
Being the middle Child ignored and neglected, rejected by family and injured, She receives her wolf early and realizes she is a new type of hybrid but doesn't know how to control her power, she leaves her pack with her best friend and grandmother to go to her grandfather's clan to learn what she is and how to handle her power and then with her fated mate, her best friend and her fated mate little brother and grandmother start their own pack.
A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)

A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)

6.3k Views · Ongoing · ADB_Stories
Isolde’s life was full of love and joy. She was set to be High priestess of the makkari, but everything changed in a single night when she lost everything at the hands of someone she thought she could trust.

For centuries, she has been on the run, helping the supernatural community under the cloak of anonymity while she works to clear her name and save the very people after her from destruction.

Enemies are closing in, but an unexpected complication befalls her when she realises she’s been fated to someone who wants her species exterminated. After all, an evil chance seldom comes alone.

A Queen Among Darkness is the 4th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.

Books in the series in order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Generation Coming Soon)