The Heavens Shall Fall (3 page)

For some reason, e
very time she closed her eyes, visions appeared to her. The memories hadn’t resurged in such a long time, but now they came back with a vengeance. She shivered as she remembered the night assailants broke into the house she shared with Marcus and dragged her into a living hell.

In her dream, t
hey all were there: her grandfather, her uncle, Georgie Boy, and Joseph Gannon…laughing, taunting her. She could feel the evil that emanated from them, the cold in the dark, dank warehouse…the burning fire pit. Nor could she forget the feeling of absolute horror when Cora appeared, naked and beaten with Georgie Boy holding the gun to her head.

No…no…no! Hannah
bolted upright.

Her body trembled with fright
and she sweat profusely. She calmed herself. It was only a dream. Giles had rescued her. Her assailants were dead. Giles said they all were dead, no longer a threat.

Oh, how she needed Giles!
He had been the one to hold her, soothe her, and challenge her to live. He allowed her to cling to him. And when she again fell into a sphere of darkness with the realization she was with child, unmarried, and penniless, he again saved her. He gave to her his name…a name for Seth.

Giles was not a rich man, but well established and respected. He owned a tavern and general store in Setauket. Hannah realized he had Patriot ties, but Giles
had not elaborated and Hannah did not ask.

Giles was an honest man. If she needed to know, he would tell her. Although
, since Seth’s birth, he had not held to her as he once had…as if he could not bear to touch her.

Hannah
rose. She would find no more sleep this night. Guilt gnawed at her conscience. She should never have married him. Giles had married her only out of a sense of duty, feeling he owed her a debt for saving him. No matter he had saved her also.

Giles
had made his feelings known quite openly that he felt she was used by those in power. Guilt also riddled his soul. For some reason, he blamed himself for her predicament the night her network faltered. Being a proud man, he took on the responsibility of her welfare.

Though, she wished…
she wished he would hold her like he did before Seth was born, talk to her the way he did for hours about his childhood, and would stay in the same room with her when they were alone instead of leaving at the first excuse. She wondered briefly whether he thought he had made a mistake.

She shivered.
She was letting her imagination get away from her. No, she should never have come here alone. She looked down at her hands. They trembled uncontrollably. She was cold.

Hannah started up a fire. At least it would take the dampness out of the air. She
crawled up into the chair and wrapped a quilt around her. She stared at the sparkling flames, wondering whether Giles had made it back home…wondered whether he had been irritated to have found her gone.

The sound of
a steady rhythm of rain beating against the roof soothed her frazzled nerves. After a while, the sounds mixed together in a comforting fashion and Hannah’s anxiousness gradually subsided.

A
bruptly, the calm was broken by the door rattling. The handle turned and feet stomped loudly. The door swung open wide. Withstanding the gust of cold wet air sweeping inward, Hannah lost her breath.

Fear swept through her every pore. Seth! Immediately, she leaped out of the chair.
Heaven be all!
The pistol she had brought lay under the mattress in the other room.

No sooner than her feet touched the wooden floor, a voice called to her.
“Hannah!”

With every ounce of courage she had, she turned. Her eyes froze upon the open door
. A tall figure walked inside; water rolled off his hat. He took his hat off and closed the door. Relief flooded her as recognition swept through her.

“
Giles!” she gasped while her heart fluttered wildly. “What on earth are you doing out in the middle of a storm?”

His hands undid the buttons
to his coat, which had done little to protect him from the elements. He was drenched from head to toe.

“
I believe it should be me who asks why you are here,” he answered disdainfully. “If you had been where I had left you, I would not have been out in a storm.”

His words cut through her sharper than the brisk wind howling out
of the doors on this night. Never had he had raised his voice to her. Though now, his eyes flared at her. She watched him shake water off his soaked body and fling off his coat over the back of the side chair. He sat down without a word. He reached down to his boots and tossed his wet footing against the wall.

“
You are angry?” she murmured. She had not moved from the spot. She fought hard to control her body, which suddenly trembled uncontrollably. He didn’t seem to notice. His head lowered while he pulled his shirt out of his pants.

She gripped her hands together, calming herself in an attempt to convince her body that
neither she nor Seth was in danger. All was in the past. And Giles was here. Angry or not, she had to admit she was happy to have him within the four walls.

“
I am not pleased,” he answered. He glanced up. “I did not need to ride all over the countryside to find you. I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours.”

“
I beg your indulgence, Giles. I told Martha clearly not to have you worry. As you can see, we are perfectly safe. I did not expect you to ride out here.”

Giles
’ gray eyes lit upon her while he undid his queue. His wet hair hung down in his face. He took his hand and whipped his sleek brown hair back. His loosened shirt showed his broad muscular chest, powerful shoulders, and well-defined forearms.

“
I can see well you are trembling, Hannah.” He walked across the room to her side. “What did you plan to do if it wasn’t me? Have you gone mad? Do you realize you are here alone with British sentries surrounding you? Alice should never have asked you to do this.”

“
Alice didn’t ask. I offered. It is what you do when you are a friend. She has been one to me. She has to stay here by herself.”

“
I’m sure by the time she returns, she will have someone to stay here with her. You should never be here alone. Do you want to be at the mercy of the British? What if—”

Hannah
’s eyes widened. “What are you saying? I thought all settled. I am in danger? You never said…”

“
Not danger, Hannah,” he informed her sternly. “You know what I’m talking of. You do not need to be underfoot of the British. You realize that…that caution has to be taken. What did Alice tell you?”

“
What do you mean, tell me? That her family is across the Sound and she fears they will lose everything if she does not lay claim. Captain Brewster said—”

“
Caleb was here? You talked with him?”

Frustration, anger, irritation
: Hannah wasn’t certain, but some emotion filled his voice.

“
Was there harm to do so? He was here to take Alice. He seemed quite taken with Seth.” She raised her eyes and met Giles’. “What is wrong with you? Why are you so angry with me? I don’t understand.”

“
I told you, Hannah. You don’t listen,” he answered her tersely. “I have promised to keep you and the small one safe. I can’t do so if you disappear on me. What is so difficult to understand?”

He stood in front of her, so close she had no difficulty discerning every detail of his face. His hand
pulled her to him. Her hands found his bare chest through the open shirt. Shivery warmth ran through her, and completely disrupted any composure she had.

“
Understand? I understand nothing.” She struggled to contain her own emotions. “You promised to care for me, yet you can’t seem to stay in the same room as I’m in when we are alone. What am I to…?”

Her words went unsaid. His arm slipped behind her waist
and clasped her to his chest. He whispered under his breath. “Is that what you think? That I don’t want to be with you? To touch you?”

Hannah
’s breath escaped her. He stared at her for a moment of suspended time. She was immediately aware of his desire. Then, slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. His arm tightened across her back. Her parted lips accepted his. The gentle kiss turned to a heated touch of lips, vividly expressing his desire and hers.

Hannah
’s whole being burned with the sudden boldness of his onslaught. Unleashing the restrained power of his body, his anger had become raw hunger. With an urgency that frightened her, she seemed compelled with a desperate desire for his touch.

She could not draw a breath
, or form a sane thought as warmth flowed through her veins. Her body responded with the need within her. She clung to him and slipped her arms tightly around his neck.

Giles straightened slightly.
For a moment, he hesitated as his gray eyes burned into hers. Her eyes locked to his. Gone was the anger, replaced with questioning eyes. She leaned upward to encourage him to kiss her again.

He
no longer fought his man’s desires; he wrapped his arms about her, and molded her to his body. She met his eagerness and unlocked all the denied passion held in limbo over the last months.

Her confidence grew. She unbuttoned his shirt
and helped him discard it. Vaguely, Hannah was aware his arms picked her up, carried her into the bedroom and laid her upon the small bed. He paused only long enough to discard his pants and lay down beside her.

His hands reached down to the hem of her
nightdress, to dispose of all between him and his needs. He looked at her in a way that caused anticipation of pleasure to tingle through her body.

She met his passion,
heard him murmur words, unintelligible words as his lips traveled down the ivory column of her throat. He pressed his lips to the delicate hollow at its base and trailed downward with a burning fire to her full, ripe breasts.

She caught her breath in a ragged sound when his
taunting, warm lips drew one pink nipple into his mouth, pleasuring first it and then the other. Pleasure surged like an uncontained wildfire until she abandoned herself in her own desires.

He lowered his hand and spread her thighs to where his fingers stroked her throbbing pulse in the most intimate of touch
es. At first, it seemed unbearable. Instinctually, her body arched to his to relieve her of this torture. She wanted him and his angry longing.

He moved over her and she
urged him to take her, begged him. He mounted her, thrust into her until a boundless end of sensations burst into a wave of ecstasy. It was a merging of bodies as they cleaved together to become truly husband and wife.

She cried out with his total possession of her. She gave to him and was his.
Slowly, awareness returned, as she lay in his arms.

For a brief space of time, there was nothing except the two of them, the sound of the rain and an overwhelming sense of contentment.

Hannah woke to the sound of her son
. He shifted around and made gurgling noises, working up to a cry. She sat up and turned; she expected to see her husband, but he wasn’t there.

Seth gave her no time to contemplate where he
r husband had gone. He wailed. She picked up her son and quickly saw to his needs. Suckling her son to her breast, she heard shuffling footsteps in the next room and wondered briefly why Giles was up.

From the slits in the curtains, she saw the storm had
subsided, but the sky was still dark. Morning lay a few hours away. Her hands caressed her small son’s head lovingly. She smiled down at the wee one and felt contentment that had long eluded her.

A sudden remembrance welled within her
of her home back in Williamsburg. She could see so clearly her father sitting behind his desk in the study. And Mother Agnes, dear Mother Agnes, reprimanding her for missing her music lesson, yet in the next breath fixing her hair so her father couldn’t tell she had been out riding with her bothers. How long ago…an eternity! Her father would approve of Giles. Of that she was certain.

Her father had his doubts about Gabriel
…warranted, without question. She ignored her father’s warnings: she wanted only Gabriel, believed she loved him so. What had she known of love!

Only the heartache when Gabriel had betrayed her, tricked her into staying in
 New York for his own gain, and the pain she suffered when she discovered his betrayal. Giles would never betray her. In that, she had no doubt, especially after this night.

Wide-eyed, Seth
cooed up at her as he finished. There would be no lying him back down to sleep. She bundled her babe up in his blanket and walked out to the other room.

Giles
quietly stared at a flaming fire, lost in his thoughts. He had found a nightshirt and hung his wet clothes around the room to dry. She could sense a stillness in him. He didn’t move upon their entrance nor did he say a word. He sat still, his face drawn, frowning.