"Ah ...." Elira let out a soft moan, her eyes wide.
"Honey? are you alright?" Elira was confused, her husband had never torn her clothes just to ask for her touch.
Ash usually started with gentle touches and cheap compliments that always made Elira laugh because she knew exactly what he was after. But the woman did not resist, did not interrupt.
She only watched Ash, whose breathing had quickened and felt warm against her face. Both of Ash's eyes stared at her breasts with raw hunger, as if he were seeing them for the first time.
"Ah!" Elira startled again when Ash's hands suddenly reached out and grabbed both of her breasts.
Ash pressed his face against her, sucking her nipple hard with a loud noise like someone slurping a bowl of soup. Elira winced, enduring the painful sensation.
"Honey, you're going to wake Lyanna next door with that sound."
However, Ash did not listen, the man did not say a single word. Elira gripped the edge of the table tightly to distract herself from the pain.
Ash attacked both of her breasts brutally. His mouth sucked alternately on both hardened nipples, occasionally accompanied by painful bites. After he was satisfied, Ash pulled his wife's waist, turning her body until Elira's back faced him.
CRACK!
Elira jolted in shock when the fabric covering her rear suddenly tore apart. Cold air touched the skin between her thighs. Elira became even more certain that something had changed in her husband that night.
"Honey ... are you sure you're alri–"
Her words were cut off when something suddenly entered Elira just like that. Without soft whispers, without kisses, without any touch beforehand. Elira's eyes went wide, her mouth fell open, her hands searched for something to hold onto.
"Ash ... Ah! slow down, honey!"
Her body rocked, she received thrust after thrust without resistance. That was Ash, the man she had loved for 15 years. The person she trusted and relied on completely.
The man who had saved her and the village of Pinedale. That night she only needed to carry out her duty as a wife. One hand supported Elira's body on the table, while her other hand covered her mouth tightly so Ash would not hear her cries.
The thrusts at her waist did not stop, Ash would usually pause every few seconds and change positions. Tears streamed down Elira's cheeks, the pain never turned into pleasure the way it normally did.
Suddenly Elira's body was moved again, this time Ash lifted his wife and carried her in front of him. Both of Elira's arms wrapped around Ash's neck and both her legs hung in the air, supported by Ash's arms that held her rear.
Elira's eyes went wide again, that position was even more painful than the one before. Elira's body moved up and down, her breath caught each time Ash's cock split her pussy deeply.
"Ash ... please, slow down!!" Elira tapped Ash's back repeatedly, however, her husband kept ignoring her.
Not long after, Ash's body shuddered, Elira dropped to the floor among the furniture that was still scattered. Meanwhile Ash staggered backward, his legs lost their strength. His body hit the wooden wall before falling and sitting slumped on the floor.
His breath came in gasps like a dying man. But what caught Elira's attention were the blue veins all over his body that were fading. They all seemed to move back toward his heart and disappeared, leaving Ash's skin returning to its normal color.
Ash opened his eyes. He stared at the kitchen ceiling for a few seconds, his breathing still heavy. Then his head turned downward and his eyes found Elira still lying on the floor with her appearance in complete disarray.
The fabric torn at the chest and at the back. Elira's skin glistening with sweat, disheveled hair sticking to her face, and traces of fluid scattered across the floor.
"Oh God, what happened honey? how did you end up lying here?" Ash moved quickly toward her, trying to help his wife get up.
Elira was silent for a moment, tears still pooling at the corners of her eyes. The woman tried to find the right words to explain without burdening her husband's mind. Elira knew what Ash had just done was beyond his own awareness.
Ash still looked at his wife with a thousand questions. "Honey? what happened?"
Elira smiled, finally. Her hand moved gently to touch Ash's face. "What just happened, was incredible."
Ash stared at her deeply, trying to understand the meaning of those words because no memory could explain what had occurred in the past few minutes. Ash did not ask further, he only knew that his wife was tired and most importantly still smiling at him.
***
A few days later, the village of Pinedale began to breathe again, although slowly.
Those who had died were buried on a small hill to the east of the village, simple grave markers lined up among mounds of earth that were still damp. The rubble of buildings and objects that had filled the streets had been cleared through communal effort, and now it was time to rebuild.
Villagers who had carpentry skills worked on the frames of collapsed houses and installed roofs. Those who had enough physical strength carried beams and broke stones for building materials.
The women, both young and old, took turns preparing food and drinks at the village hall, long tables made of rough planks filled with pots and plates.
There were no cheerful faces among them. Each still appeared puffy-eyed, with red eyes and sunken cheeks, but their hands kept moving and their mouths occasionally exchanged words of encouragement and strength.
Ash was in the forest about three kilometers from the village with several other men, looking for suitable timber for building frames. His axe had been working since morning, his palms growing rough and sore at the wrists.
When the sun was directly overhead and they stopped for lunch at the edge of a small river, the sound came from the sky.
A loud, heavy droning passed through the trees above them and made the leaves stir. Ash looked up along with the others and saw a large shadow passing through the gaps in the canopy, too large for any bird.
They ran to the edge of the forest and looked out at the open area.
A large aircraft, larger than anything Ash had ever seen land near the village of Pinedale. It was not an ordinary merchant plane that sometimes passed at high altitude, this one descended low and stopped right in the field on the western side of the village, its engines roaring loudly before finally going silent.
Thick dust rose from the ground beneath it, covering much of its dark grey hull. The men wondered where it had come from, who it belonged to, and what purpose it had in landing near the remote village of Pinedale.
"That must be aid from another city," said Wren, the large-bodied man to Ash's left, his tone more like someone trying to convince himself. "I think the city of Vindale found us some additional help."
The other men nodded, half in agreement, half in hope.
Ash did not answer. His eyes did not leave the aircraft, from the way it had descended without any prior notice, from the absence of any emblem or marking he could read from his position. Something in his chest moved with a different rhythm.
His hand reached for the axe he had earlier driven into a tree trunk. His instincts told him that aircraft had not come with good intentions.
"I'm heading back to the village," he said.
***