Red Planet Alpha

Chapter 3: Awakening

### Chapter 3: Awakening

Mars – Sol 2 (Second Day on Surface)

Eva woke up drenched in sweat, her body on fire.

It wasn’t the habitat’s temperature control malfunctioning—those systems were triple-redundant and humming perfectly. No, this heat came from inside her, a slow, rolling burn that started deep in her core and radiated outward, making her skin hypersensitive, her n*****s tighten painfully against the thin fabric of her tank top, and her thighs slick with arousal she couldn’t explain.

She kicked off the thermal blanket, gasping for air. The crew quarters were quiet, the soft breathing of the five other team members the only sound in the dim red emergency lighting. Everyone was supposed to be asleep after yesterday’s exhausting EVA and the adrenaline crash that followed the discovery.

But Eva couldn’t sleep. Not with this need clawing at her insides.

She pressed her thighs together, trying to ease the ache, but it only made it worse. A soft whimper escaped her lips before she could stop it.

The pod door slid open silently.

Jax stood there, shirtless, sweatpants riding low on his hips, his massive chest rising and falling faster than normal. The muscles she’d traced with her tongue nine months ago in that Florida hotel room were taut, veins standing out along his arms. His gray eyes caught the low light and reflected it back—almost glowing.

“I heard you,” he said, voice so low it was nearly a growl. “From my bunk.”

Eva swallowed hard. “Jax… something’s wrong with me.”

He stepped inside and sealed the door behind him, the click loud in the silence. The small private pod—barely big enough for the bunk, a fold-down desk, and a locker—suddenly felt microscopic with him in it.

“I know,” he rasped, taking another step closer. “Because I feel it too.”

She sat up, legs dangling off the bunk. Her tank top was soaked, clinging to her full breasts, and she saw his gaze drop there, darken. “It started after the exposure. The mist from the pod. I thought it was nothing, but now… God, Jax, I’m burning up. I need—”

She couldn’t finish the sentence. Didn’t have to.

Jax was on her in a heartbeat, hands cupping her face as he kissed her like a man starving. No gentle prelude, no hesitation. His mouth claimed hers, tongue sliding in deep, tasting her like he owned her. Eva moaned into him, fingers digging into the hard muscle of his shoulders.

He tasted wild—salt and heat and something new, something primal.

Jax broke the kiss only to drag his mouth down her neck, teeth scraping the sensitive skin there. “Tell me to stop,” he growled against her throat. “Tell me now, Eva, and I’ll walk out that door.”

She should. The crew was right outside. Protocol. Professionalism. Everything they’d fought to maintain for two years of training and nine months in deep space.

Instead, she fisted his hair and yanked his mouth back to hers. “Don’t you dare leave.”

That was all the permission he needed.

Jax lifted her like she weighed nothing, turning to press her back against the cool metal wall of the pod. Her legs wrapped around his waist instinctively, ankles locking. She could feel how hard he was—thick, heavy, straining against his sweatpants, grinding against her core through the thin layers of fabric.

“f**k,” he hissed, hips rolling into her. “You’re so wet I can smell it.”

Eva’s cheeks flushed hotter, but the words only made her ache worse. She rocked against him, desperate for friction. “Please, Jax… I need you inside me. Now.”

He didn’t make her wait.

One hand shoved her shorts and panties aside while the other freed himself. No foreplay, no teasing—just raw, urgent need. He lined up and thrust into her in one long, deep stroke.

Eva’s head fell back against the wall with a thud, a cry tearing from her throat. He was big—always had been—but tonight he felt even thicker, stretching her deliciously, filling her completely.

Jax clamped a large hand over her mouth, eyes flashing that unnatural silver again. “Quiet, baby,” he warned, voice shaking with the effort of holding back. “Or the whole damn crew will hear me f*****g my mate.”

The word *mate* sent a fresh flood of heat through her. She didn’t question it. Didn’t care. She just nodded frantically, muffled moans vibrating against his palm.

He started moving—hard, powerful strokes that slammed her into the wall with every thrust. The bunk creaked dangerously nearby. Eva’s nails raked down his back, leaving red trails that healed almost as fast as she made them.

Something was changing in him. In both of them.

She could feel it in the way his c**k swelled inside her, a thick ridge forming at the base, pressing against her entrance with every withdrawal. Knotting. The word flashed through her mind from half-remembered mythology readings, but this was real. This was happening.

“Jax—” she gasped when he moved his hand to let her breathe.

“I know,” he groaned, burying his face in her neck. “Can’t stop it. You feel too f*****g good. Too perfect. Mine.”

He angled his hips, hitting that spot inside her that made stars explode behind her eyes. Eva’s body tightened, coiling fast and hard. She was already close—so close.

His teeth grazed the curve where her neck met her shoulder. Not a gentle nip. A claiming bite, sharp and possessive, breaking skin just enough to mark.

The pain tipped her over.

Her orgasm crashed through her like a Martian dust storm—fierce, blinding, full-body. She bit down on his shoulder to muffle her scream, inner walls clenching around him in rhythmic waves.

Jax followed seconds later with a guttural growl that vibrated through her entire body. His hips locked deep, the knot swelling fully, tying them together as he came in long, hot pulses, filling her until she felt overflowing.

They stayed like that for long minutes—panting, sweat-slick, tied in the most intimate way possible. The knot throbbed gently inside her, keeping him seated deep, every small shift sending aftershocks through her oversensitive body.

Eventually, the swelling eased. Jax pulled out slowly, carefully, then carried her to the bunk and laid her down like she was something precious. He grabbed a cleansing wipe from the locker, cleaning them both with gentle strokes that belied the feral intensity of moments ago.

Eva watched him through half-lidded eyes, body deliciously sated but mind racing.

“What’s happening to us?” she whispered.

Jax stretched out beside her, pulling her into his chest, one heavy arm draped possessively over her waist. “That sample… it wasn’t just ancient tissue. It was designed. Engineered for survival. And mating.”

She shivered. “You think it’s rewriting us?”

“I know it is.” He pressed a kiss to the fresh bite mark on her shoulder. “And I’m not sorry. I’ve wanted to claim you for years, Eva. This just… sped things up.”

She should have been terrified. Should have been calling for a full medical quarantine.

Instead, she snuggled closer, breathing in his scent—pine and gunmetal and now something wilder, like ozone after a storm.

The fire inside her had banked to embers.

For now.

But across the habitat, in the main commons area, a soft thud echoed again—louder this time. Followed by a low, pained groan.

Jax tensed, every muscle going rigid.

“Lena,” he muttered.

Eva’s eyes widened. Dr. Park had been on the EVA with them. Close to the sample.

Jax was already pulling on his pants. “Stay here. Lock the door.”

“Like hell,” Eva said, grabbing her own clothes. The scientist in her needed answers. The woman in her needed to protect what was hers.

They stepped out into the corridor together.

The habitat lights were on emergency red. In the commons, Lena was on her knees, clutching her head, body shaking.

And her eyes—when she looked up—were glowing gold.

The infection wasn’t stopping with them.

It was only getting started.

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(To be continued…)