"Not sure about that, I am just enjoying a dance with a beautiful lady," Xiran lightly squeezed her waist and Aselia gulped hard. His hands seemed to be branding her, she could feel the scorching heat through her gown. And yet she didn’t feel repulsed by his proximity, instead, she craved it like a life-saving drug.

"You haven’t even seen more than half of my face, how do you know I am beautiful? Maybe I have blisters on the hidden part," she cockily asked, maintaining eye contact with him, trying to understand this stranger she knew nothing about. A gentle breezy smile adorned his lips at her words, he had missed her brattish attitude.

"It doesn’t matter to me," and he twirled her far and wide, her gown flared like an open flower before elegantly pulling her back and catching her in his steady arms. Xiran tilted her a bit so he could hover over her.

Her over-hyped heart was telling him everything she was trying to hide. He could see all her blushes, sense the nervousness, hears the drumming heart and notices the longing her orbs held for him.

The grey-eyed vampire knew she was still as affected by him as she was the first day she had met him in that dungeon two years ago. She was flustered beyond words and he wanted to kiss her so badly.

"Can’t you tell me who you are?" she finally breathed out, trying to lessen the sexual tension that was rippling all around them and he straightened her, his hand landing in her soft gold locks and he gently caressed them.

"I can’t, I am sorry," and Aselia observed a film of agony coating his radiant grey eyes, they darkened instantly. She also sensed his body had tensed against hers.

"Why?" she asked in a small voice. Her heart began to ache, and somehow she knew she wouldn’t be able to see or meet him again and the mere thought charred her insides.

"I am dangerous. It’s better when people stay away from me or they end up getting hurt and in pain. I taint them..." his voice had hardened and so had his eyes, and she knew he was disappointed in himself for some reason.

"And you are too precious to be tainted," holding her by the waist with his left hand he brought the right one closer to her face, his knuckles slightly rubbed against her strawberry-coloured cheek, reddening it even more. Goosebumps rose all over Aselia’s body as she visibly shuddered in his hold.

People were chattering and staring at them because both of them had not broken eye contact for a long time. The music had slowed and the lights were dimmed as they fell on Aselia’s face and her turquoise peepers, making them softly glow with hidden desires.

His thumb slid to her lips and he softly caressed the lower one making her eyes grow wide in astonishment. She wanted to reprimand him for being this bold with her but she couldn’t formulate words, he had rendered her speechless, a feat only he could achieve. And not for the first time.

His hand shifted from her lower lip to the rim of her mask and he began to trace the soft skin along the outline of the mask, so delicate as if he was handling something fragile. Making her breath uneasy as a pool of desires was created in the pit of her stomach.

"Can I ask you a question?" he whispered leaning in, the veins in her neck were so inviting, his eyes filled with longings. It had been a year since he had tasted her divine nectar. His breath was so comforting against her bare neck. She wanted his lips there.

"Yes!" She didn’t even think before saying the single-syllable word.

"Are you happy?" He cupped her face with his right hand and Aselia leaned in his touch, soaking it in as much as she could. The man from her dreams had turned into reality and she could bet her life that he was him.

"Something is missing in my life, I am not sure what it is, but I feel incomplete," she confided in him and placed her hand above his. Her answer hurt him, more than she could comprehend, for he was the missing piece of her heart and yet he couldn’t tell her that. The agony coated his dreamy eyes and Aselia had to ask:

"Why do I feel like I know you?" She wanted to reach out and touch his face too but she nipped the urge.

How desperate she would look? Already dancing with a stranger in front of the King and the Queen, what they must be thinking about her. But at the same time, her heart didn’t seem to care what others thought. All it wanted was to be in the proximity of this silver-haired man, who was shrouded in mystery and wonderment.

He affectionately smiled at her question and instead of answering her he slid both his hands to her waist and yanked her closer to him so that her hands landed on his chest for support. A slight "Ahh!" wiggled its way out of her mouth and his smile turned into a cockish grin.

Her heart leapt in pleasure his action had provided, he began to slowly sway her. Enveloping her body with his, not caring about the whispers erupting, not caring for the world. This was their moment and he wanted to cherish it fully.

At least, her face and ears were hidden. No one will know it was her. They gently swayed along the music.

For now, he just wanted to hold her as much as he could, as long as he could, before that man would come, the man he was going to kill tonight.

"The man who was with you earlier. Is he your boyfriend?" The jealousy dripped from every single word of that question he casually tried to throw her way. But it didn’t go unnoticed by her.

She opened her mouth to answer but someone else was quicker.

"Yes! And it will be in your best interests if you would let my girlfriend go," Jaguar’s enraged voice reached them both and Aselia tried to take a step back, but Xiran held her close.

"Or what?" he slowly turned his head towards Jaguar and challenged. He pranced towards them with so much rage, that Aselia thought he would rip him apart.

"Let me go," she calmly requested. She didn’t want them to fight over her. Aselia didn’t even understand what was happening.

With a tight jaw and a wounded heart, Xiran removed his hands from around her waist and Jaguar yanked her away from his proximity.

They were unaware that a woman with raven hair and a full mask had been observing everything. Since phones weren’t allowed in the hall, she had mentally noted down all the details, ready to be revealed.