Hope went downstairs and took a deep breath before opening the doors to the grand ballroom. Multiple chandeliers with ten arms lined the ceiling and brightly lit the hall. On the left was the violin quartet singing a rhythmic song, emphasizing her feeling that she was in a fairy tale.

Stolen by the view and the music, she hardly noticed that this huge room was almost empty. The only beings here were her, the violinists, and a waiter. The latter approached and handed her a glass full of a golden liquid. Hope tasted it, and the bubbles stung the inside of her cheek and tongue. The contents felt deep in her stomach. Maybe because she hadn't eaten anything all day?

She was preparing to go to the only table in the room that seemed to have some food on it when she felt a warm hand on her bare shoulder. Hope turned her head slightly and saw out of the corner of her eye the rebellious strands of Drake's black hair. She also caught his mischievous but sexy smile. She wanted to turn towards him, but a whisper stopped her. "Don't turn around yet. Enjoy this moment with me. "

The violins continued to play, but the rhythm was slower and the song softer. The hand with the long, sharp nails began to stroll on her back, neck and then began to descend slowly down her spine. A shiver went through her backbones, feeling her with delight. She could not believe that such a man could generate such a feeling inside her.

The hand stopped at the waist, where the dress began. Hope thought this was the end of the little experiment, but then she felt a warm, wet kiss on her left shoulder, and the tremor turned into a rain of sparks that set her on fire. And then other slow kisses caressed her neck, going up to her ear.

To break the control Drake was beginning to have over her, Hope suddenly turned around and caught him off guard. His eyes were sparkling red, but they were full of desire and loneliness. Immediately, as if snapping your fingers, his eyes turned black again, taking on a playful and threatening note, and his arrogant smile curved his lips again. "Do you want to give me this dance?"

"I do not know how to dance," confessed Hope as she nervously looked around the ballroom. Her head tilted, thinking whether he arranged this ball and hired musicians only for the two of them.

"That's not a problem," Drake replied. He lifted her hands and placed them around his neck, then hugged her and lifted her lightly like a snowflake. Now, Hope's feet no longer touched the shiny floor, and she flew weightlessly over the dance area. She didn't react because she could only think of one thing. Hope still couldn't forget the lonely look she caught on his face.

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Hope wanted to know what he was thinking and feeling, but she was almost sure he wouldn't answer if she asked him directly. It was so easy for her to know how the animals felt, and when she touched them on their head, she touched their souls, and they got the perfect connection. Unfortunately, Hope couldn't do that with people. She had tried several times and did not know why, but humans were a completely different kind of animal.

In her village, there was a saying that there is no death in trying, so Hope decided to try her luck. Now, she was at the right height to take that test. She raised a hand resting on Drake's neck and slowly touched the top of his head. He froze and stopped dancing to the rhythm of the music. Hope felt a tremendous power pulling her in. Where?

Hope was in complete darkness. There was no ray of light. Everything was dark, and total silence enveloped the black infinity. Suddenly, a pair of red eyes shone in the dark. Hope took a few steps closer until she could see them completely. The red iris covered the entire eyeball, and the pupil was just a vertical black stripe from which radiated yellow waves like the sun's rays.

The being who possessed these eyes had to be gorgeous, strong, and intelligent. Hope was still drawn like a thin piece of iron flying helplessly at the all-powerful magnet. She took a few more steps forward until she realized she could no longer move onward. Huge thick metal bars stood between her and the magnificent creature. Did this barrier exist to keep her out or to keep him captive?

The owner of the red eyes began to approach the metal bars. From the sound of his footsteps, he must have been huge, colossal even. Hope was looking forward to seeing him and maybe asking him who he was and what he was doing here. But where was here?

Suddenly, huge claws appeared through the iron bars, and Hope took two steps back, almost losing her balance. When she was stable again on her feet, she cleared her throat and prepared to ask the first question. Just then, an intense whirlwind, like a powerful tornado, lifted her and pulled her away, dragging her through the darkness…

Hope opened her eyes and was still in front of Drake on the dance floor. It was as if time had stood still, and all she saw was a fragment of vivid imagination, but still unreal.

When the reality almost completely convinced her that she had hallucinated during the dance, she heard Drake's low, threatening, husky voice. "Oh, little toy, why have you had to do that? That is an invasion of privacy, and it is pretty naughty. For that, you will receive a punishment fitting for your transgression. Now, go to your room! This ball has ended!"

Drake turned his back and moved away, whispering something. "Foolish dragon and foolish me for agreeing with this charade."

Hope picked up the whisper with the superhearing borrowed from the connexion with her dog, Max.