Dancing With Danger

Dancing With Danger

Amelie Bergen · Ongoing · 94.3k Words

904
Hot
904
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 😍

From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

1.3m Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.

Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.

In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?

From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

46.8k Views · Ongoing · Riley Above Story
As a wolfless orphan, Joanne had been abused by Alpha Anthony ever since she was a child. She devoted her entire life to surviving in his pack—until one day, she returned home to find an injured vampire lying in her house, his whole existence luring her in. Taking the risk of bringing him in, Joanne never expected Alpha Anthony to discover it the very next day and finally seize the chance to kill her. Just as Joanne was about to be executed, the vampire she had saved arrived, with his army. And Joanne realized that he was the Prince Alexander, heir to the vampire throne…..
To protect what’s mine

To protect what’s mine

496.6k Views · Completed · Winter Rowe
Amalie is more special than she ever thought possible. Why would the twenty-two-year-old think any different after she has been told she’s nothing for her whole life by her family? Adoptive mother of a three-year-old, Ama has been locked up by her family for the past seven years. But everything changes when her old friends, the Alpha twins, Markus and Calyx, take over the Moonstone pack. Finding out that the twins are her mates, she is a white wolf, and has a connection to the Moon Goddess, is just icing on the cake of her life is a huge mess. Ama just wants a normal life with her mates and protecting her pup, but life rarely gives us what we want. She is thrust into world that she no longer remembers and has forgotten her. Amalie is charged with protecting those closest to her. But she has her own past to overcome as she heals and attempts to move forward. Will she come out alive or lose herself along the way? After all, someone has to be pulling the strings, why not pull her along for the ride?
Soulbound Mark

Soulbound Mark

3.9k Views · Completed · ngocvynguyen985
Vampires are her worst fear, but what if one of them turns out to be her soulmate?
Elena is a witch who adores flowers and plants, possessing a gentle kind of magic that is tied to nature. She leads a quiet life with her family—until one day, the peace is shattered. After a ruthless vampire kills her parents to obtain their magic, she barely escapes and is forced to go into hiding.
From that moment on, she lives in constant fear and does all she can to avoid vampires, afraid that her past may catch up with her one day.
However, Elena can’t escape her fate, and it leads her straight into the arms of yet another vampire. Their encounter throws her life into disarray—not only is Ryder her enemy, but he is also her destined soulmate.
Cursed Beauty and her Three Alpha Mates

Cursed Beauty and her Three Alpha Mates

4.8k Views · Ongoing · Author Aimen
“I am Maya Blackthorn, the first daughter of Alpha Darius of the Ashbourne Pack, and I am damned… damned by the Moon Goddess. And destined to bring kingdoms to their knees.”
Cast out by her pack for being wolfless and plagued by uncontrollable heat, Maya has spent her life surviving humiliation in silence.
Fate drags her into the path of Kael Draven, the ruthless Lycan King who claims her… only to reject her.
But Kael is not the only Alpha bound to her.
Finn, her childhood best friend and the rising Alpha, loves her with a devotion so fierce, he spends four years locked away in the most ruthless dungeon only to keep her safe.
Xander, a rogue wolf who can make even Alphas bow to his will, has waited centuries for her to be reborn, and he has no intention of losing her again.
Three Alphas.
Three claims.
One cursed destiny.
They called her wolfless. They thought she was weak. But she is done hiding, and this time, she's rewriting the rules.
Timeless Us

Timeless Us

1.9k Views · Ongoing · Jennifer Cooper
A strange traffic jam hurls Chloe twenty-three years into the future.
The world she knew is gone.
Her husband, Nathan, is no longer the young man she left behind—he’s successful, respected, and living with a new family.
But when the woman who disappeared twenty-three years ago suddenly returns…
can love survive the years that were lost?
The Missing Mafia Princess and her CEO Mafia Don

The Missing Mafia Princess and her CEO Mafia Don

5.5k Views · Ongoing · Tonje Unosen
Isabella believes that her boyfriend can change is way again and be the man she fell in love with. But when she get kidnapped because of him, and he is to busy with another lady instead of saving her. She understands she is better off without him. She gets saved by her boyfriend cousin who has loved Isabella for years. Just stayed in the shadows. Will Alexander help her heal from the broken heart his ignorant cousin leaves her with, and then win her heart?
Alpha Of Glass And Gold

Alpha Of Glass And Gold

1.5k Views · Ongoing · ruby martyr
He left Aurora Anderson with a ring that meant nothing and a promise that broke everything.
Four years later, Levi Kingston, the ruthless Alpha who traded his pack for power and built an empire in glass and gold, returns with a proposition that reopens every wound she buried.
A ninety-day marriage contract.
His terms: protect her twins from the enemies his rise created.
Her condition: never fall for him again.
She’s human, or at least that’s what she tells the world. He’s the heir to the city’s hidden packs, a man forged in dominance and secrets. Between them lies a history of rejection, desire, and a bond that refused to die even when they did.
In a world where loyalty is currency and love is leverage, Aurora must decide whether to guard her heart or the truth that could bring Levi Kingston’s entire empire to its knees. proposition that reopens every wound she buried.
Alpha, Billionaire, Strong FL, Fated Mates, Rejected Mates, Secret babies, Twins, A Marriage of Convenience,
Death By Breathing

Death By Breathing

4.6k Views · Completed · arianniahrain
After a deadly virus shattered civilization, a new world rose from the ruins—one ruled by Alphas.

Females are claimed. Controlled. Bred.

Alex swore she would die before becoming any man’s possession.

Fiercely independent and determined to escape the fate forced on women like her, Alex has spent years surviving under the radar. But everything changes when the powerful Vandicoff brothers—three ruthless Alpha rulers—discover she is their true mate.

The moment they claim her, war ignites.

Alex refuses to submit to their bond, their authority, or the dangerous pull between them. She fights every command, every touch, every instinct threatening to drag her under. But the more she resists, the more obsessed the brothers become.

What begins as a battle for control soon sends shockwaves through the entire Alpha world, threatening the Vandicoff empire itself.

Can Alex survive three possessive Alphas without losing herself in the process?

Or will the one thing she craves most—love—become the very thing that destroys her?
The Hockey Alpha's Fake Girlfriend

The Hockey Alpha's Fake Girlfriend

10.4k Views · Ongoing · midaspen78
Vivienne has always felt small. At home, she’s trapped in pain she can’t escape. At school, she hides in the shadows, counting the days until she can finally be free. But one choice shatters everything, leaving her broken and more alone than ever.

Then there’s Rafael. Dark. Untouchable. The boy everyone talks about but no one really knows. He should be the last person Vivienne gets close to, yet she can’t look away. He pulls her in with a kind of danger that feels both terrifying and safe, like he sees the parts of her no one else can.

But Rafael carries secrets—secrets that could destroy them both. And the closer Vivienne gets, the harder it is to tell if he’s her way out… or the reason she never escapes.
What the Heart Wants (Book 1 of the Alpha Faros Series)

What the Heart Wants (Book 1 of the Alpha Faros Series)

2.8k Views · Ongoing · FM Publishing
Loving him will cost them everything…

Not loving him will cost more.

Derek has one goal: survive high school without drawing too much attention or pissing off his pack’s alpha.

As the youngest son of the alpha, his life is governed by lycan hierarchy, tradition, and politics. With no signs of awakening a lycan spirit, his only value is what he can do for the pack’s image. He knows he’s only ever one misstep away from exile… or worse.

Then, he finds a boy trapped in a locker on orientation day, and everything changes.

Derek shouldn’t want Nikolias. He’s off-limits. A risk Derek can’t afford.

So why does it feel like he’s the only thing worth fighting for?

Nikolias has just lost everything: his parents, his home, and any sense of peace. Sent back to the town his family left years ago to live with his prejudiced and controlling uncle, who wants nothing to do with anything—or anyone—not human, he’s trying to do everything in his power to get out quickly.

But then he meets Derek again, and all of his plans vanish in the soft, yearning flecks of gold in Derek’s green-hazel eyes. He’s drawn to Derek in a way that’s impossible to deny, and he thinks Derek feels the same way, despite the danger their relationship holds for him.

As Moonshadow's politics turn deadly, Derek and Nikolai are caught in the crossfire of a war that had started long before they were born, and their bond becomes a threat and a lifeline that neither can afford to sever.

Because the heart wants what it wants….

And it never asks permission.

TW: Graphic Violence, Suicide Ideation, Suicide Attempt, Child Abuse, Cult-Like Behavior
The Unwritten Princess

The Unwritten Princess

1.9k Views · Ongoing · Manda Grey
I was born the year the Rift opened. They said I would close it. They were wrong about so many things.

My name is Mia, and everything I touch is dying.

The flowers beneath my mother's window turned black overnight. The herbs I gathered at dawn rotted in my hands. When the court wizard finally told me the truth—that someone cursed me, that my presence would kill everyone I love—I realized the prophecy everyone believed was never meant to save the kingdom. It was meant to destroy me.

So I ran. Not to fulfill some destiny, but to survive it.

Now I'm traveling with a hunter who lost his companions to the same curse I carry, chasing fragments of a prophecy the Fae sing differently. An elf took a baby from the palace the night I was born. And somewhere between the lies I've been told and the truth I'm hunting, I'm starting to suspect: What if I'm not the princess from the prophecy at all?