Read Online Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) by Airicka Phoenix, Morgana Phoenix - Free Book Online Page B

chair, and next to him, his wife appeared almost miniature sized.
    Past their shoulders, stood a woman with a face designed to make a man beg. Everything from her full, pouty mouth to her wide, dominating eyes dripped with sexual appeal. Her hair was a riot of dark, shiny curls pinned in an elaborate knot around her head with stray tendrils kissing her neck and shoulders. For a moment, she was all Gideon could stare at. He was enthralled by her beauty ... and the fact that he was pretty certain her tunic was see-through. Long, thick lashes lifted and those warm, brilliant brown eyes the color of caramel found his almost like she could sense him watching. Red lips curved in a slow, seductive grin that made Gideon uncomfortably hard. She winked and he felt himself flush—and nearly come in his pants.
    “Gideon!” His mother’s sharp hiss made him jump.
    Next to him, Magnus snickered and quickly covered it in a cough. Gideon elbowed him.
    “That’s Richella, daughter of Queen Tiana and King Armine, Draconians of the south,” Octavian mumbled from Gideon’s other side. “And I would keep all parts of myself away from her if you wish to remain intact.”
    Gideon chuckled. “She certainly looks like she could destroy a man, doesn’t she? But what a way to meet ones end.”
    Octavian snorted. “I meant because of Mother.”
    “Well, I wouldn’t be telling her, now would I,” Gideon muttered.
    Octavian made a sound between a laugh and a sigh. “She and Father are old friends,” he explained, which only made Gideon frown all the harder.
    “So? I don’t mind older women.”
    His brother’s gray eyes dropped down to his, sharp with intensity under dark brows. “They are old friends ,” he repeated very slowly.
    The truth hit him and hit him hard enough to deflate his erection immediately.
    “Exactly,” Octavian said when Gideon visibly grimaced.
    He glanced at their mother and noticed the hard line of her mouth, the sharp slants of her shoulders and the way she refused to look anywhere near the south, which was hard to do considering they were straight ahead.
    On the right, a man with twice the amount of gut chortled at something one of the girls over his shoulder whispered in his ear. His gut jiggled as did his many chins. His brown eyes were lost in the deep crinkles straining out on either side. Gems glinted on each stubby finger as he pressed his hands to his belly, which was naked. He wore nothing but a yard of fabric around his hips and wooden sandals. The last time Gideon had walked out of his room wearing nothing but a towel, his mother had nearly taken a switch to his backside. She clearly hadn’t met this guy.
    “That is King Jub,” Octavian murmured. “His wife died during the war. He rules the east with his daughters, whose names elude me.”
    Gideon turned his attention to the left and the ramrod straight man staring down the length of his nose at everyone. He sat with his hands on the table like Queen Tiana, except it wasn’t with care. His was a show of power. It showed in the hard lines of his shoulders and in the tight slash of his mouth. His hair was as gray as the tunic he wore. It mirrored the smocks adorning the five girls behind him. Each one very pale with blue eyes and dark hair, and each one more beautiful than the last.
    “King Arild and his wife, Queen Cressida, Harvesters of the west,” Octavian mumbled with just a hint of dislike. “Their daughters, Alva, Erle, Anika, Serinda and Valkyrie.”
    At the mention of her name, Gideon’s entire body stiffened. His heart began palpitating with anticipation and excitement. He had to blink to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. But sure enough.
    Valkyrie.
    He couldn’t believe his luck. He hadn’t seen her since that night in Salem, yet there she was, the picture of absolute beauty with white lilies in her hair and another in her hands. Unlike her sisters, who were looking straight ahead as though they’d been turned