Protected By The Gila Monster Stepbrother (Red World Monster Stepbrothers #3)

Chapter 1

The shade of the broad canopy offered a cool sanctuary against the baking heat of the Red World.

I lay flat on my back, the soft, alien moss cradling my spine, and stared up through the dark green foliage.

A few yards away, the deep freshwater oasis rippled.

The water mirrored the crimson hue of the canyon walls towering hundreds of feet above us, a steep vertical maze carving through the desert.

This oasis served as a hidden jewel in the harsh landscape.

A lush strip of vibrant green vegetation hugged the rocky banks, providing a dense, fragrant barrier against the red dust of the lower wastes.

The air smelled of sweet minerals and crushed leaves.

The silence of the canyon wrapped around me, broken only by the gentle lap of the water against the stone.

There were no buzzing insects, no crawling pests to ruin the tranquility.

Only the birds kept me company. Small, round songbirds with brilliant scarlet plumage darted among the branches above my head.

When they tucked their wings and settled against the dark bark, they looked like clusters of ripe, heavy fruit.

I watched one hop onto a low branch, let out a melodic trill, and freeze into a deceptive crimson sphere.

It was an ingenious camouflage, a vivid display of survival in a harsh ecosystem.

My lungs expanded, pulling in the clean air.

I spent my days just like this, breathing deeply, tracing the flight of the birds, letting the hours slip by in a lazy, sun - drenched haze.

My mind wandered back to the final years on Earth, a stark contrast to this vibrant sanctuary.

I remembered the bitter ash coating my tongue, the gray skies suffocating the sun, the frantic scramble for canned food in decaying supermarkets.

We choked on our own atmosphere, waiting for an end that felt inevitable.

Our lungs burned with every breath. Our days consisted of hiding in crumbling basements, listening to the violent, desperate screams in the streets above.

Then, the portals tore open. They hummed with a strange, magnetic energy, glowing like beacons in the smog.

My mother and I stepped through without a single backward glance, trading a dying planet for the brutal, majestic heat of the canyon.

We had nothing. No survival skills for a wilderness of jagged red stone and predatory clans.

We were soft, warm - blooded prey stepping into a world ruled by monsters.

My mother, ever the pragmatic strategist, secured our future before our first week ended.

She offered her hand to the warlord of the Gila clan.

He ruled a vast territory of the desert, commanding a complex network of subterranean cave systems that kept his lizard-like monsters cool during the scorching days and warm during the freezing nights.

The marriage bound us to his protection.

It transformed us from vulnerable refugees into untouchable members of the ruling family.

Now, I lived in a sprawling, shadowed palace of carved stone, with private access to this hidden oasis.

One of the winding tunnels led straight from my bedchamber to the edge of the water.

Safety tasted like fresh water and sweet canyon fruit.

I had no duties, no fears, nothing to do but exist and enjoy the vibrant colors of a living world.

I closed my eyes, letting a soft sigh slip past my lips, enjoying the cool sensation of the moss beneath my fingers.

My idyllic, carefree existence came with one heavy, silent complication.

A dry, rhythmic rasp echoed over the rocks.

It sounded like two rough stones sliding against each other.

I did not need to look to know what caused it. Yarkur. My stepbrother.

The Gila clan revered him. The warriors spoke his name with a rough, guttural respect, calling him the most lethal hunter in the territory.

They claimed his claws could shred armored beasts and his speed defied his massive size.

I heard the stories from the servants. I saw the deep respect in the eyes of the clan elders when he walked through the grand halls.

Yet, in the three months since my mother tied our bloodlines together, I never saw him fight.

I never saw him train in the sparring rings or lead scouting parties into the lower wastes.

I never witnessed the brutal violence the clan praised.

I only saw him doing one thing. Following me.

He shadowed my every step. If I walked the cool, dark corridors of the cave system, I heard the heavy drag of his tail on the rock far behind me.

If I sat in the communal halls to eat, he claimed the stone bench opposite mine, ignoring his food to track the movement of my hands.

He lingered at the edges of my vision, a constant, looming weight.

He rarely wasted breath on words, preferring to let his heavy, unblinking stares speak for him.

He simply watched, a silent sentinel tracking my every breath.

I turned my head, opening my eyes to find him exactly where I left him.

Yarkur sat on a wide, flat boulder near the edge of the water.

The rock soaked up the midday sun, radiating a brutal heat that would blister human skin, but he absorbed it like a sponge.

His posture radiated a terrifying, predatory stillness.

I let my gaze travel over him, taking in the vast, overwhelming mass of his frame.

He possessed a semi - humanoid build, a towering mountain of muscle and thick, armored scales.

His broad shoulders blocked out the light bouncing off the canyon wall.

A heavy, sculpted chest gave way to an abdomen corded with rigid muscle, displaying an imposing set of abs.

Every defined ridge was covered in a layer of beaded, terracotta - colored scales.

The rough texture of his skin darkened into deep, burnt orange and black patterns along his thick arms, mimicking the shadows of the rocks.

He wore nothing but a loose loincloth made of cured leather, leaving the vast majority of his reptilian anatomy exposed to the harsh sun.

The fabric stretched tight across a heavy, distinct bulge, hinting at a complex, alien biology that made my pulse stumble every time my eyes accidentally dropped too low.

Thick, powerful legs ended in wide feet with dark, curved talons that anchored his massive weight against the rock.

Behind him, a massive, muscular tail wrapped around the base of the rock, the heavy tip twitching once in a slow, hypnotic arc.

His head held the most mesmerizing danger.

It blurred the line between a hardened human warrior and a primal desert beast. A strong, angular jawline transitioned into a slightly elongated, blunt snout.

A ridge of dark, hardened scales crowned his brow, sweeping back over his head in place of hair, tapering down the thick column of his neck.

His eyes, a striking, vibrant gold with narrow vertical slits for pupils, remained locked onto my face.

They held a cold, calculating intelligence, a predator assessing every shallow breath lifting my chest, every twitch of my fingers against the moss.

The silence between us stretched, thick and heavy, punctuated only by the distant trill of a red bird.

Slowly, his jaw parted. A long, dark, forked tongue slipped past his sharp teeth, tasting the heated air between us.

It flicked twice, gathering my scent, analyzing the subtle chemical shifts in my sweat, before retreating behind his dark lips.

The subtle flex of his jaw told me he found whatever he tasted deeply satisfying.

He shifted his weight, his thick claws scraping against the stone.

"You stare too long, Talsey," his voice rumbled.

It sounded like grinding boulders, deep and guttural, vibrating across the surface of the oasis pool.

I shifted on the moss, crossing my arms over my chest, refusing to let the intimidation tactics work. "I could say the same about you, Yarkur. I have been lying here for two hours. You have not moved an inch. Do you even blink, or is that just a rumor?"

His golden eyes narrowed a fraction. The long, dark tongue flicked out again, tasting my defiance. "My kind conserve energy. The sun provides warmth. I watch the perimeter."

"The perimeter is a steep rock wall and a pool of water," I countered, pulling a blade of grass from the ground and twirling it between my fingers. "There are no threats here. Unless the berry - birds are planning a tactical assault."

A low, rhythmic hiss slipped from his chest - his version of a chuckle. It lacked warmth, but it held a heavy amusement. "You mock the canyon, little human. Everything here possesses teeth."

"Not everything," I said, leaning back onto my elbows. "This oasis is safe. Your father promised my mother this sanctuary was secure. Yet, the clan's greatest warrior spends his days sitting on a rock, guarding a girl who does nothing but rest."

Yarkur tilted his head. The sunlight caught the dark, jagged ridges along his jaw.

He slid off the boulder. The movement held zero hesitation, a liquid, terrifying grace that defied his massive bulk.

He landed on the soft dirt without a sound, his heavy tail dragging behind him, creating a wide groove in the red dust. He closed the distance between us in three long strides, stopping at the edge of the shade provided by my tree.

He refused to step out of the blistering sun, preferring the intense heat baking his thick scales, but he loomed over me, casting a long, dark shadow across my legs.

"My father commands the clan," Yarkur rumbled, his golden eyes dropping to track the pulse beating at the base of my throat.

"He dictates the borders. He claims the tribute.

But he does not command my instincts." He leaned down, bracing one massive, clawed hand against the trunk of the tree.

The ambient heat radiating off his skin hit me in a suffocating wave, smelling of hot stone, dry dust, and raw, male musk.

I noticed the stark contrast between his rough, textured fingers gripping the bark and my own soft, fragile skin.

"I am a creature of the sun, Talsey," he murmured, his voice dropping into a rough, vibrating rasp that sent a shiver straight down my spine despite the canyon heat.

"I draw fire from the rocks during the day.

But the desert nights freeze the blood. They slow the heart.

They demand a different source of heat." His forked tongue flicked out.

"You smell like sweet water and hot blood. You radiate life. You burn."

I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry.

I stared at the dark, armored plates covering his chest, tracing the subtle, rhythmic expansion of his lungs.

The imposing physical presence of him demanded submission.

Every primal instinct screamed at me to run, to scramble backward, to seek the safety of the deep caves.

He was a lethal, cold - blooded predator, and his words held a dark, obsessive promise for the freezing nights ahead.

Instead, I held my ground. I looked up, meeting his unblinking, golden stare.

I saw the obsession burning behind the slit pupils.

I saw the coiled tension in his thick thighs, the predatory hunger he masked under the guise of casual observation.

He needed my warmth. He craved the heat pumping through my human veins.

I let out a slow breath, forcing my shoulders to relax against the moss. I turned my head, breaking the heavy eye contact, and looked back at the small, crimson birds settling into the green branches. Let him stare. Let him stalk my steps and crowd my space and taste the air around me.

I mentally ran through the memories of Earth.

The starvation. The bitter cold of a dying atmosphere.

The constant, gnawing terror of violence in the crumbling streets.

The desperate, violent scramble for rations as our world choked to death.

I traded a nightmare for a sun - baked paradise.

I gained a sprawling stone palace, an abundance of fresh food, and an idyllic oasis where the greatest danger came from the heavy, heated stares of my new family member.

If the price of this lush, quiet sanctuary was a massive, obsessive lizard - man acting as a permanent shadow, I could pay it.

His intense focus, his unspoken need to drain my body heat during the cold desert nights, felt trivial compared to the horrors I left behind.

I settled deeper into the cool moss, closing my eyes against the bright sunlight reflecting off the water.

I felt his golden eyes burning into my skin.

I felt the overwhelming heat of his body hovering over me, a silent, immovable guard dog.

I simply shrugged to myself. It was the lesser of two evils. Let him follow.