I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 463: Testing their Limits

Out of breath and lying on the floor of the Duke’s Study in front of the fireplace. Henry was shirtless while she wore one of his tunics because she had gotten hers wet when they were outside...

All they were meant to be doing was making sure their swords were devoid of water and not at risk of rusting from the rain. How did it end up like this?

They were having a serious conversation about their lives and what he wanted for the future of the duchy. He had mentioned bringing the peasants to Chemois so that they would no longer be used to death by their monarch.

Something about the way that Henry was so honorable and kind made Irene’s heart melt. She found herself leaning towards him to offer her silent support. A kiss on the cheek should be enough, she decided.

As she was meaning to pull away, she was surprised to feel his hand on her lower back, drawing her closer. She went easily, as if she weren’t someone who could easily fend for herself. But it was just because she trusted him. No other man would be able to handle her in such a way.

There wasn’t a thought inside of her to be embarrassed as their lips met—not for the first time that day. As she melted into him, she found herself totally encompassed by the feeling. The desire for more cropped up in her heart again.

Her hands found his neck and shoulder to cling to as she kissed him back with just as much fervor as before. When she squeezed his hard shoulder, he pulled away, biting her lip as he did.

"Please tell me if you’re uncomfortable with anything," he whispered. "I’m about to lose my mind."

They were only next to each other, but her urge for more caused her to place her hands on his chest. She pushed off her knees, and he fell backwards with her on top of him.

Only a few moments were allowed for her to be ashamed that she was being too forward and much too aggressive for any well-mannered lady. However, the rare blush on his face and faint smirk he wore told her that he didn’t mind being pushed around a little bit all that much.

His expression only egged her on as if she wasn’t a young woman who had only been kissed for the first time that morning.

Her hands slid up his chest and hugged his neck. Their lips met again.

Rather than the sparring kiss from earlier that day, when she felt she was being challenged, this one was much slower. He was her teacher while she was the student. She demanded more while he had them both right where he wanted them.

"Don’t hold your breath," he reminded her, his mouth a mere inch from hers.

To show that she truly did need to catch her breath, she fell away from him, but he cradled her in his arm, which she used as a pillow. He allowed her the few moments she needed.

When she was given a moment to think, she closed her eyes and put a hand on her forehead.

"What’s the matter?" he wondered.

She rolled to him, feeling nervous that his gaze was on her. However, she forgot he was shirtless, and her face met bare skin. It only made her more nervous.

"I don’t know what’s gotten into me," she admitted. "How am I supposed to control myself?"

Her nerves only grew when he affectionately placed his free hand against her waist. It gently slid up her body.

For a moment, she seemed to only remember then that he was truly a man. There were warnings from her parents when she was younger about what a lonely man was capable of, but she had never sensed that in Henry. However, he seemed particularly starved as suddenly pulled his hand away and opted to hug her instead.

Only a moment later, he pulled away completely.

"You don’t have to control yourself," Henry decided. "Trust me to uphold your honor. If you want to stop thinking, I’ll be here to bring you back."

The red-headed knight quietly took in his expression. He wasn’t forcing her into anything. Rather, she had his complete and total understanding. That to her was more frightening because all she knew was that she didn’t want a man who was too forward. A man who didn’t pressure her was entirely out of her realm of understanding.

Because when he didn’t pressure her, she started feeling like pressuring him instead. His words that he would control the situation were fresh in her head as she slid one of her hands into his dark hair and gently grasped the back of his head.

He kissed her again and again, reminding her to breathe and gently coaching her to where he was sure she was perfectly comfortable. They hardly realized when the fire needed another log, but as a chill set over Henry’s skin was only when he gently pulled back.

"I ought to build up the fire more," he admitted. "I didn’t realize we would be here for so long."

Irene lay on the rug, using his arm as a pillow again as she came back down to earth after their time was full of only kissing. She wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been at it, but she knew she would be tired in the morning.

"Actually, I ought to return to my room and get to sleep," Irene admitted, finally recalling that there was an entire life outside of kissing her Commander. For a while, he was all her mind was full of. "We will both be tired in the morning."

"As much as I don’t want to be apart from you, I agree," Henry admitted. "I think the rain has stopped for a little while as well."

Irene sat up. For the first time in who knows how long, she put space between them. She was still a bit dazed at how their first day of ’getting to know one another’ had turned out. It felt like there was much more than that happening, but neither one of them knew how to define it just yet.

With space between them, Henry could finally get his tunic back on, which was mostly dry from hanging it above the once blazing fireplace.

"Shall we?" he asked Irene, who opted to settle on the floor and watch him. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"I suppose," she responded quietly.

She pulled her cloak over the tunic she wore of his. When the two of them made it to the end of the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, and also where the back entrance to the Duke’s Tower was, Irene stepped away from Henry.

"Then this is where I bid you a good night," she said.

"I’m going to walk you to your barrack," he insisted. "Not to say it’s too dangerous for you to go alone, but because I want to see you for as long as I can. I’m not sure when we will get more opportunities to spend time with one another like this."

However, it turned out there were many spring evenings such as that. Irene and Henry would stay up late, getting to know one another on both a physical and emotional level.

Each time the Commander walked her to her barrack, Irene had an urge to tell him to come inside and stay just a bit longer. Yet each time, he managed to resist.

It was the first time Irene had dealt with desire and having someone who was to blame for it. She thought she was alone in the struggle until she decided to follow him back out of the barracks one day when he was returning to the Duke’s Tower for the night.

A smile appeared on her face as she witnessed him pause at the end of the hallway that led outside. He gently tapped his hand against the threshold before letting out a sigh.

"One day..." he uttered to himself, thinking no one was witnessing his private moment. "One day... but control yourself first, you bastard."

His hand against the doorway clenched into a fist before he rushed off rather quickly.

So, she wasn’t alone in this.

She felt strangely empowered as much as she felt relieved.