Audio Tour, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
Raven: Part One
By Piper Scott & Virginia Kelly
Narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo
https://www.ironworkstudios.com
Forbidden Desires, Book 8
Bertram Drake, the most mysterious Drake brother, leads a life shrouded in secrecy. Taken from his brothers at a young age and shaped into a weapon to be used by the dragon council, he has one sole purpose: obey the orders given to him, no matter what they might be.
Once a perfect jewel of the Pedigree, Sorin’s sparkle has been dulled. Taken from his cloister and sold regularly to the highest bidder, he has learned two vital truths.
The first: that dragons are monsters who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
And the second, most terrible truth of all: that egg madness is a lie—omegas are not saved from a lifetime of pain even when they are separated from their eggs.
When Sorin’s newest buyer mysteriously dies, Sorin sees it as his chance to escape from the hellish life he’s been forced to lead. The only obstacle? A handsome agent of the council who has been tasked with ending his life.
… and who has custody of his eggs.
Raven: Part One is a 100,000 word omegaverse mpreg-ish romance set prior to the events of the Forbidden Desires series. It contains action, adventure, heartbreak, laughter, and more than its fair share of steam. For maximum enjoyment, Raven: Part One is best read following the events of Clutch, Bond, Mate, Swallow, Magpie, Finch, and Peregrine.
Please use the Look Inside or Download Free Sample feature to read the Content Warning for possible triggers.
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Audio Runtime: 10 hrs and 12 mins
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Exclusive Excerpt:
“The first dragon who took me was an Onyx,” Bran told Bertram two nights into his captivity, his first glass of aqua vitae drained, and a second well underway. “Rumors had spread through the Onyx clan that there was a Pedigree omega who greatly resembled the dragon lord Rustaham, and as it turned out, that omega was me.” He wrinkled his nose and scowled at his drink, but his expression lacked its usual venom. Bertram found it quite fetching. “Lord Rustaham was rich, but he was not a popular dragon within the Onyx clan, and he had many enemies. He’d gained his fortune by lying and using underhanded tactics to trick other dragons out of their coin, but nothing he did defied the law, so he was never punished for it. When word got around there was a younger, prettier version of him in the Constantinople cloister, one of the dragons he’d wronged sought sanctions not because he wanted a clutch, but because he wanted to work out his frustrations on a version of Rustaham that couldn’t fight back. The eggs came as a surprise. There were five of them in total. I was blindfolded and shackled while I laid, so I never got to see them, but for years after that, I heard them cry out in want of me. Desperate, heartbroken little screams. Even to this day, I can’t shake the sound of it. Their pain echoes inside of me, and it won’t leave me alone.”
Bertram arched a brow and sipped at his drink but said nothing. The story was remarkably cohesive for an omega suffering from egg madness, but he supposed it was to be expected—Bran had been given months to concoct a believable lie while journeying to Scotland. Anything to tug on Bertram’s heartstrings and get him to show mercy. Bertram knew the ploy all too well.
“I’d been taught that Pedigree omegas who laid clutches were sent away to live off the riches of their dragon lord,” Bran went on to say, “but such was not the case for me. From what I can gather, word spread quickly through the grapevine that I had conceived a clutch, and offers to purchase my services began pouring into my cloister. I suppose one of them was too good to refuse, because as soon as I finished laying, I was shipped off to another hateful dragon and given some foul mixture to induce my heat. I conceived with him after only one attempt. Three eggs, that time. I saw them.” Bran’s voice hitched, his eyes shimmering with tears. “They were dark jewels as stunning as the endless night sky, but they were taken from me before I could tell them how beautiful and loved they were.” Bran cleared his throat roughly and drained his glass, setting it on his knee. “I never saw them again.”
Bertram was not naïve—he was aware that not all cloisters were lawful. Some masters and matrons, seeking to fatten their pockets, used their cloisters like brothels and sold their omegas for coin. There had been a few cloisters with similar issues under Amethyst jurisdiction over the last few hundred years, although none that matched the insanity of the one Bran described. If he had only edited down his story a little, Bertram would have believed him, but his claims of laying multiple clutches pushed it over the top.
It was simply too much.
No omega had ever laid more than one clutch, and no omega ever would. Those rare few who did lay eggs were sent to live in paradise in lands far away, where they spent the rest of their days in luxury, living off their dragon lord’s coin. Clutches were such big news that there was no way an omega could slip through the cracks—dragons were always sticking their noses into the business of others, and with news as exciting as that, there were simply too many eyes watching for trafficking to occur.
And yet…
Something troubled Bertram enough that he reached for the decanter, pouring Bran another drink.
He knew the story had to be fake, but all good lies grew from kernels of truth, and he found himself yearning to follow this tall tale down to its roots to see how deep it would go.
Bran considered the drink, sipped at it halfheartedly, then sighed and set his glass on the bedside table. “There was another clutch,” he said as an aside, and settled into bed, where he nestled into the pillows. “I would tell you about it, but I can see you don’t believe me, so I won’t waste my breath.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Don’t play dumb.” He looked up at Bertram impartially. “Your expression reveals nothing, but I can see the way your mind turns behind your eyes. You can look engaged and interested all you’d like, but I know better. I’ve been the property of so many dragons, I know how you operate—even the pretenders, like you.”
“Pretenders?”
“The ones who pretend they’re innocent.” Bran seemed to consider something, then reached for his glass and sat up just enough to drink from it heavily. He winced upon swallowing, then set it aside and flopped back into bed, seeming oblivious to his own pain. “They act as though they are friendly and benevolent, incapable of doing wrong, but you—all of you—allowed this to happen to me, and others like me. It wasn’t just the Onyx clan—dragons in every clan knew things like this were happening, and no one thought to stop it. You’ve enslaved us. Shut us into pretty prisons where we’re taught to be faithful whores. And even then, it isn’t enough for you. You take, and you take, and you take, and you don’t care who you hurt as long as you get what you want in the end. All of you are the same. Some of you just show it more than others.”
“That isn’t true.”
“Then will you abolish the Pedigree?” Bran demanded, piercing Bertram with his gaze. “Will you let us go?”
What Bertram wanted to say, and what he almost said out of instinct, was “No,” but that didn’t sit right. The situation was more nuanced than that. But before he could explain, Bran sighed in frustration. “I thought as much,” he said, and turned his back on Bertram. “Goodnight.”
Bertram remained seated for a few moments longer, considering the small but fierce omega he’d taken prisoner, then rose without a word and left the room. How was he to make Bran understand that the Pedigree gave omegas otherwise destined for manual labor pampered and privileged lives? The Pedigree was a kindness, not a curse, and the few instances of abuse within the system did not mean the whole thing was corrupt. The checks and balances in place were not perfect, but Bertram had already spoken to his father about putting more stringent regulations in place. It would take time, but eventually the opposition would wane and conditions would improve. The unlucky few who suffered during their time in their cloisters did not change the fact that to serve a dragon was a blessing, and of all those who attended to their dragon lords, those who entered the Pedigree were the most blessed of all.
Those thoughts haunted him for several more hours, giving chase as he paced his lair, never lingering long in any one spot, the lantern he carried all that kept him from the shadows of the night.
Bran, he decided, was misguided.
That was all.
The evils he’d suffered were not typical, and they had shaded his perception of reality. Had he been raised in an Amethyst cloister, he wouldn’t have entertained such outlandish thoughts. After all, what were dragons supposed to do if the Pedigree was abolished? Clutches were rare enough as it was—they might never be laid again should the cloisters be shuttered. Then what were the omegas to do? Live as peasants? It made no sense.
Life would be far worse for everyone without dragons there to oversee it, and the Pedigree was the cornerstone of that hierarchy—the foundation of draconian society itself, from which all clutches were produced. It was essential. Abolishing it would mean the end of dragonkind, and that simply could not be allowed to happen. There was no other way.
As wrapped up as he was in his thoughts, Bertram didn’t notice that he’d wandered in the direction of his eggs until he found himself in front of the nursery door. It was late, and he was better off in bed, but his hand was already in his pocket, and then the key was in the lock. His dragon stirred as he entered the room and purred with longing as it spotted the eggs, and as one, they moved to the egg bed and wrapped themselves around their clutch, gathering each egg to them as closely as they could so they would feel Bertram’s beating heart.
Dark jewels as stunning as the endless night sky.
Did they scream, too?
“You are beautiful and loved,” Bertram whispered to them, his heart breaking and his mind somewhere far away. “You don’t have to be afraid. I will do anything to protect you.”
The eggs did not reply, of course, but a tender kind of love warmed Bertram’s chest. He wasn’t sure if he should ascribe it to the eggs, but he and his dragon lay with them a while longer anyway, soaking up the feeling until there was nothing left of it—until it felt like the eggs were asleep.
Enter the Giveaway:
To celebrate the Audio Release for the Raven Part One, Piper is giving away the winner’s choice of an eBook or Audio Code of the Series!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cc0f2a57853/?
Check out the series here:
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Finale: Raven: Part Two
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Audio Runtime: 9 hrs and 22 mins
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About the Authors
Piper Scott
Piper Scott’s love of reading began at age ten, when she discovered that the magical worlds in adult fantasy novels were way more exciting than playground politics. As she grew up, so did her reading habits, and now not only does she like to read books on the steamy side, but she loves to write them, too.
A Canadian by birth but an American by marriage, Piper currently resides in Southern Illinois, where she leads a quiet life with her husband, their dog, a very demanding cat, and her office mate—her pet rabbit.
If you love Piper’s omegaverse, mpreg, and paranormal romance books, be sure to check out her work as her gay contemporary romance alter ego, Emma Alcott!
To stay in touch, sign up for her newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/pipersnewletter
Or find Piper on Facebook and stay up to date with what’s new in Aurora: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PiperScott/
Piper’s books are interconnected. For complete immersion, the recommended reading order is as follows:
Rutledge Brothers Series: Love Me > Save Me > Keep Me
His Command Series: Obey > Beg > Stay > Heal > Breathe
Single Dad Support Group Series: The Problem > The Proposal > The Solution > The Decision > The Promise > The Answer > Single Dad Sundays
*The Forbidden Desires series, co-written with Virginia Kelly, takes place concurrent to the events of Breathe. All other co-writes are not directly connected to Piper’s omegaverse.
Connect with Piper: https://linktr.ee/piperandemma
Virginia Kelly
Connect with Lynn: https://www.instagram.com/lynnvandornauthor/
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