I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 470: The Hungry Beast

"I can walk by myself, you know," Irene insisted as she pushed herself away from Henry's grasp.

"I don't care," he persisted. "No one is up here to see you in the first place." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

She couldn't argue that point and merely sighed before she went into the room that had been opened by the man who had dragged her all this way.

Whenever they went to his room, they tended to stick towards his small sitting area by the fireplace, but before Irene could make it all the way there, she paused mid step and turned towards her Commander.

"I don't want to get the furniture dirty," Irene said. But when his expression changed, she added, "If we put down a towel, I suppose it would be alright."

"Take off your tunic and pants," he directed all of a sudden.

Irene's green eyes widened at that. While he was so unbelievably shameless, there was still a lot she was nervous about.

"Wh—"

"You've worn my tunics before," he interrupted, realizing she was going to jump to conclusions. "I've seen you in your underclothes when I was helping you with the wound on your shoulder. You can wear a pair of my pants with a drawstring, and it will be fine. The maids will wash your things with mine."

At that, he was already moving to his armoires along the wall and rummaging through things until he found the suitable clothing he was looking for.

He turned to hand off the pants to Irene, only to be met with her incredulous expression.

"The last time you saw me like that was only because you didn't yet look at me like a man who has been starved," she muttered as she took the pants from him.

"Back then, I didn't know that I was allowed to," he admitted with a faint smirk.

By that point, they had established their boundaries. Never before had either one of them been more certain of where the other person stood.

Irene narrowed her eyes at him, resisting the urge to smack his certainty away. There wasn't another person she wanted the way she wanted him, but he could at least not tease her about it.

"I will be getting myself together in your bathroom," she stated as she moved quickly towards a door that she could close so there would be space between them.

He brought confusing feelings to the surface a lot of the time. Their long evenings of kissing until they were both frustrated had been put on hold while Irene was on night duty. There was a sort of warm feeling between them, building each time they were in each other's presence, now that they couldn't explore that side of their relationship as much.

Irene thought she had gotten past a few nervous habits of hers, but he always found a way to bring them back.

After getting out of the clothing she had been wearing all night, she unfolded the pants he had given to her. Even though there was a small string that allowed her to tighten them, they were still rather loose. Even though she wore a chemise that covered most of her body down to the undershorts she wore, she felt so unbelievably exposed.

Surprisingly, it wasn't him she was worried about doing something he shouldn't—it was herself she worried about not being able to hold back.

There was a basket for dirty clothing that she quickly dropped her items into before exiting the bathroom to Henry, who was surprisingly standing next to the fire, crouching over a pot of water he had placed amidst the flames.

With a thick, wool cloth, he lifted the pot and stood up to pour the hot water into a clay pitcher that had colder water in it, making it a much better temperature.

"What are you doing?" Irene wondered.

She shouldn't have been that surprised when he responded, "Sit down," as he took a different towel and placed it in the warm water before wringing it out. He then turned to her and sat beside her on the couch so he could wipe away evidence of monster blood on her face.

Since he wasn't allowed to be as protective as he wanted of her, this was how he calmed his anxious heart instead. He could take care of her in other ways that she would find less fussy than keeping her from doing the things she loved.

"It seems I should have looked in the mirror before I came out here," she admitted with a laugh.

"Then I wouldn't be able to do this," he responded easily.

The cloth was first on her nose, and he requested she close her eyes so he could get the evidence of her battle from her eyelids and eyebrows. She was able to open them again when he worked his way towards her forehead and into a bit of her hair.

Once her eyes were open again, his face was practically an inch from hers as he looked at her hair. She couldn't help reaching for the front of his shirt, silently needing stabilization as he invaded her space.

"Look up," he quietly directed.

She lifted her chin obediently, and he cleaned off the cloth in a different basin so that he could get more of the warm water and take care of what had gotten on her neck and collarbones. It was obvious which parts of her were uncovered when she was handling the situation with the apprentices.

Even though all it took was one wipe to take care of the rest of the monster blood, Irene couldn't help shivering at his touch, always surprised that a part of herself could be so sensitive. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to control herself until the sensation was taken away.

However, even more surprising than him being able to elicit responses from her like that was when she felt his breath on her neck and she placed her hands on his shoulders—not to push him away but to brace herself.

He didn't move ahead immediately, which caused a faint smile to pull at her lips.

"You're holding back a lot, aren't you?" she asked.

"I shouldn't pounce on you every chance I get," he admitted.

"Why not?" she wondered. "When I like it so much…"