The Company of Men

"The count prefers the company of men—" Francis tried to explain, but she just grinned at that, with the long-fought acceptance of a woman playing a man's game in a man's world. "Don't you all?"

"In bed."

That stopped Mary in her tracks. And Francis could all but read her thoughts, how she was even then adjusting her plan to accommodate this new, unanticipated information. She asked Francis how he knew, as if hoping that his intelligence might simply be faulty.

"One hears things."

It was just a little, white lie. Not even a fiction, really. One does hear things, and it was best to leave it at that. How Francis had come by that knowledge was an episode in a life that he no longer had, aborted before it could go very far, so what did the particulars of how he knew Philipe Nardin really matter?

She would not have believed the entire truth anyway.

Warm lips press against Francis's, coaxing them into reciprocation; but the beard that rakes like gentle fingernails across his skin is an alien sensation, as if, if Francis keeps his eyes closed, he could be kissing himself.

Philipe tugs at his clothes, sure and eager for the touch of warm skin beneath, and Francis thinks he hasn't had enough wine for this.

Or perhaps that's the problem: Perhaps he's had too much.

—

It had started so simply, and perhaps that should have come as a warning: a chance meeting in the Parisian market after Sunday services. A recognition, one-sided. And, with heart leaping into his throat, Francis could quite honestly say he was relieved that if anyone should recognize the dauphin incognito, it was someone as trustworthy as the young Count Nardin.

They were already acquaintances, though some years had passed since the tournament that had brought Philipe to court the last time, and it was time enough for boys and whiskers to grow. But the intelligent eyes and the wry, knowing grin below them became quite familiar with a name to go with them. And when Philipe, at Francis's prompting, gave an accounting of where he had spent the last few years—names like Venice and Rome and Morocco falling from his lips like jewels scattered upon a swath of velvet for his consideration—Francis was as good as caught in the trap Philipe might even then have just begun to lay for him. For how could Francis resist being regaled by tales of those exotic places over dinner with an old acquaintance, who with any luck might soon become a new and influential ally for him in Paris.

And the evening proceeded amicably enough, the duck rich and the wine even richer, though conversation stayed light and, true to Philipe's character—the young count did enjoy hearing himself talk—on the maundering side.

That is, until the subject turned to the ways one whiled away the time in Paris, and it became apparent that word of Francis's expensive tastes had not gone as unnoticed as he would have liked.

"My good man," Philipe said with an incredulous chuckle, "I don't think you realize the danger you could be in should the wrong person recognize you for who you are. All the more so if you should, for some reason, be inspired by my adventures and decide to travel abroad. The Dauphin of France would be an ideal hostage for some political rival or foreign enemy looking for concessions from your father."

"My cover has served me well enough so far. And you mean the former Dauphin, don't you?"

"The way I hear it, nothing is final yet. And even if it were, it would hardly matter. You are still King Henry's son—even if the Pope does declare you a bastard in the end—and therefore still a king-in-the-making and a very valuable hostage. However self-inflicted you claim this exile to be, it was foolish of you to come here without some sort of armed escort. And expect you could maintain your royal lifestyle on top of that."

"Then I suppose it's a fortunate thing you found me first," Francis said with a smile that was feeling less and less genuine the more ominous this conversation turned.

And the more assured Philipe Nardin's own smile grew. "Indeed," said the young count, more to himself than to Francis, and took the liberty of refilling their wine goblets.

Whether it began as a friendly wager or not-so-friendly blackmail, Francis can't remember, but by the end it had become a bit of both. "Spend the night with me" had been the gist of it one way or the other, and Francis didn't for a minute think Philipe was planning to keep him up all night drinking and playing cards.

Though he could hope.

To his credit, Philipe Nardin did have a charming laugh. "Then it's true. You've never been with a man."

"Of course not," said Francis, without a blink. "I'm told it's an abomination."

Conversation had revealed by then, however, that neither one of them put much stock in the moralistic inventions of celibate men, nor other indefensible superstitions—which Philipe was quick to remind Francis. "I find it difficult to fathom why, if God truly did not want us to lie with other men," he said, a wry grin tugging at his lips, "he would have designed us the way he did."

"And what way is that?" said Francis, though he could guess the answer.

There was a twinkle in the other's eyes that spoke volumes beyond the answer he revealed. "For pleasure, of course."

—

The span of his hands is greater than any woman's or girl's that Francis has known, and possessing of a confidence that only the hands of someone who is accustomed to being touched the same way would: the certainty of the terrain of a seasoned traveler. Philipe made quick enough work of his dinner companion's doublet and shirt. Now he moves his attention, with no trace of feminine hesitation, to the ties of Francis's breeches.

Francis's lips part in a gasp at the touch. But the fingers tangled in his hair keep him captive, and the gasp becomes an invitation. His breath mingles with Philipe's, heady with the wine they've shared, and the young count drinks deeper of him. Philipe's kisses, at once leisurely and serious, are light yet full of the gravity of the pursuit of pleasure. The tip of his tongue plays hide-and-seek with Francis's, eluding him just when Francis begins to appreciate its wanderings, leaving him unsatisfied.

Hunger Francis has known in a partner, and worship and desperation, and true love and passion—at least, so he believes—but this is none of the above. It is measure and control. It is a game, an unraveling of a puzzle, and a test of mettle all in one. All that he feels comes at Philipe's discretion.

And the count is talented. He manages to get Francis unwitting to the edge of the bed while distracting the prince with his possessive touch, his intoxicating kisses.

Now that Francis sees the bed, however, with its colossal twisting posts like teeth in some giant creature's maw, he starts away from Philipe's grasp. Hesitates.

But he had agreed. With the first touch of Philipe's mouth to his that he did not pull away from, Francis agreed to the conditions. Only all of a sudden he's aware of the reality of it, the knowledge that once he's horizontal, there is nothing to do but see this to its natural conclusion. And Philipe—damn his ease at this—smiles down at Francis like he's some blushing virgin.

—

In a way, he was.

"If you're afraid I'll hurt you," Philipe said with that same wry, penetrating smile over the remains of their supper, "you needn't be. Believe me, the thought could not be farther from my mind. What would I stand to gain from that?"

"And yet here you are," said Francis, "threatening to reveal the truth of who I am to all of Paris if I don't go to bed with you. But it seems to me you're overlooking one important matter, Philipe. I could just as easily reveal your secret—"

"To whom? My father would pretend not to hear you," said the young count as he watched the wine swirl lazily about its goblet, "just as he pretends to have a son with normal appetites, so long as I give him a grandson before he dies. It's a survival instinct on his part, you see. And as for the Church—as you're doubtless thinking—what are they but an institution of sodomites and hypocrites? At least they were in Rome, and I trust their French brethren aren't cut from too different a cloth. At very least, they're smart enough not to offend one of their most generous patrons by questioning what his heir gets up to in the privacy of his own bed.

"So, the way I see it, the most I stand to lose by my secret getting out is a bit of pride. And God knows I have enough of that to spare. But for you, the stakes are much higher."

On second thought, Philipe set the wine aside, and rose to stand before Francis with hand upon hip, as clear a challenge as any the dauphin had been delivered. And Philipe knew by now that Francis and his defiant pride could hardly resist a challenge.

"But I don't want you to stay because you feel you must. Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I thought you left court to experience every pleasure the world had to offer."

Francis could not help a note of bitterness: "You make it sound as though leaving was my choice."

"It is your choice—what you do with the freedom you've been granted. How many people are ever fortunate enough to wind up in your position—the funds to take them anywhere in the world they wish to see, with no commitments whatsoever to tie them down? Think about that before you reject what I'm so willing to give. How will you know what you're missing if you never give it a try?"

He sounded like Francis's mother, urging him to eat his vegetables. Yet somehow Francis could not escape the feeling that what Philipe was really after was the conquest. The ability to boast, even if to no one but himself, that he had bedded the Dauphin of France.

The chuckle that observation won him was not exactly an admission of guilt, but nor was it a denial neither. "Spoken like a conqueror himself."

—

If this is a conquest, Francis isn't so adverse to surrender now that he can see for himself what the terms entail. His head falls back against the pillows, his fists tightening in the silk brocades, and a string of blasphemies trips on his tongue.

It's Philipe's tongue that drags it from him, the strength to resist, until nothing is left but the warm cavern of his mouth around Francis's flesh, and said tongue—Christ, that tongue—tracing a sensitive vein. There is no trepidation in Philipe's treatment of him now, and no need for Francis's guidance to know where to apply his attentions or how lightly to tread.

And why that should come as any surprise, Francis does not know. The number of his past bedmates cannot change the fact: None of them had a cock, and so none of them could ever truly understand how it feels to be on the receiving end of such ministrations. Even their most ardent efforts seem lacking next to Philipe's expert touch, as the count seems to know him as well as Francis knows himself.

Perhaps better. If this is abomination, surely it is only because no human being's pleasure should be so purely at the mercy of another, so exposed and uninhibited as Francis is at this moment. Philipe's hands slip beneath his thighs, urging them further apart, and Francis forgets whatever promises he made himself that he would not make this easy for his host and would-be blackmailer. He lifts his hips as his fingers grasp for purchase in Philipe's golden hair, eager for that precipice Philipe's mouth is quickly leading Francis toward.

And he can't believe that Philipe doesn't know exactly how close he was when he pulls away, the wry grin having made its way to his eyes as they flicker up to Francis's over the length of his own body. The stiffness of the count's whiskers, scratching Francis's belly with every languid caress of lips, makes Francis shiver with unresolved need; but Philipe is a paragon of restraint. Even when he rises to straddle Francis he seats himself high.

Philipe reaches for Francis, leans in for his lips; but Francis holds him back, afraid of tasting himself on Philipe's tongue. Whatever truth there is in what Philipe said about trying new things, there are some experiences Francis is not sure he's ready for just yet. Philipe's clothes lie in a puddle at the foot of the bed with Francis's own and one hastily emptied wine glass, and Francis's gaze can't help but be drawn to the young count's substantial cock, standing proud and eager between them, a mirror of his own desire. He isn't ignorant of the mechanics—hasn't been for years—but the thought that any man would want that inside himself is an alien concept to Francis, no matter how exhilarating an experience Philipe may try to convince him it is.

He only becomes aware he's staring when Philipe laughs lightly above him. His thumb teases the whorl of Francis's ear as attentively as his tongue had Francis's glans only moments ago, and Francis swallows hard, finding his throat dry.

"Shut up," he chides, ashamed and amused when his words come out so breathless and ragged. His hands rest uneasily on Philipe's thighs, though he longs to dig his fingertips into that flesh. To hold Philipe there and teach him for laughing. "You started this," Francis reminds him. "Don't even think of going anywhere before you finish it."

"How could I possibly refuse an order like that?" Philipe says, but his breathing is almost as strained. And it's clear even the veteran needs a moment to gather himself together, to prepare.

Or perhaps the moment is for his playmate: a chance for Francis to slow his racing heart, for his desire to cool sufficiently for what is to come. Philipe murmurs against his other ear: "Just try not to finish too far ahead of me."

And as he guides Francis into him, accommodating him one tantalizing inch at a time, it's all Francis can do to be patient. To trust Philipe's experience, and each measured oscillation of his hips that pulls them deeper into union. The moment Philipe's discomfort turns to the pleasure promised, Francis knows it. Bunched muscles relax beneath his hands, the tight heat enveloping his cock contracts exquisitely. Philipe's moan resonates deep within him, and the shamelessness of it draws a sympathetic echo from Francis.

And when Philipe begins to quicken the rise and fall of his hips, Francis does not reject the press of his mouth, the masculine taste of himself on his tongue. He drinks it in, nerves buzzing where Philipe's teeth in his haste graze Francis's lips.

—

"What do you want me to do?" a more uncertain Francis had asked him after that first tentative, damning kiss.

And the answer had seemed simple to accept. Lie back, enjoy, was the gist of what Philipe had told him as he undid the first few clasps of his doublet; though admittedly the count's version was a bit more vulgar. And reading the anxiety in Francis's eyes despite his best efforts to mask it: "You're my guest," Philipe said, "so allow me to take care of you."

—

It's a condition with which Francis can no longer comply.

They disengage just long enough to subvert positions. Francis rising to his knees, limbs trembling beneath Philipe as he lowers himself back on the duvet. One hand out to keep his head from knocking into one of the posts at the corner of the bed. That draws a breathless laugh from them both, but only for one moment. And only for a moment, Francis worries his re-entry may be none too gentle, though he trusts Philipe to correct him if that should be the case.

It isn't. And the sound that escapes Philipe's lips as Francis slips into him to the hilt is as much a growl, low in his throat, as it is a groan of approval. He cants his hips, hooking his legs high around Francis's waist and buttocks. The taut, warm bow of his thighs, a trap Francis has no immediate desire to be freed from.

Philipe has one hand around his own cock, and it seems to Francis that it's only right that hand should be his. If he's surprised by anything, it's how natural and familiar that organ feels in his grasp, as if he were touching himself. Not at all as he expected, and he doesn't know why it should come as any shock.

There's something narcissistic, even selfish, in the way Philipe is stretched beneath him, and watches Francis stroke him as he might stroke himself, in time with each thrust. And Francis can find no fault with that. He's a diversion to Philipe, nothing more or less—a means to a satisfying conclusion, without any desire for his wealth or power or children, or anything else Francis might possess besides the pleasure of his physical company. For a man so well read, it all comes down to wonderful, thoughtless friction for Philipe Nardin, and Francis thinks he's beginning to see the logic in it. Even feeling it approaching, he isn't prepared for the force of his climax when it seizes him, and sweeps him helpless along rolling waves of bliss.

Philipe follows a moment later—though in the firm grip of his pleasure, Francis is only aware of it in the warm flood of seed between his fingers, and the tight rhythmic throbbing of muscle around his cock, drawing out every humming ripple of his orgasm. Milking him of every last ounce of strength until he barely has enough left to disentangle himself and collapse, utterly sated, beside Philipe on the duvet.

But not before he watches the ecstasy on Philipe's panting lips turn to the self-righteous grin of a saint who's seen his gamble of faith come to sublime fruition. The told-you-so is on its way, Francis can feel it, and he hasn't the strength or the breath left within him to fight it off.

If those he left back at court could see him now, he thinks, they would be scandalized—and he cannot be bothered to care. What good would it do? He can't go back. Not now, not ever. If Francis should be grateful to Philipe for anything more than the evening's entertainment, it's for showing him France and Mary may no longer be his, but there are still other satisfying riches to live for.

Notes: (10/9/14) Removed a few letters from Philipe's name to match what I'm considering the canon spelling, which is to say the DVD subtitles, now that they've been released.

For anyone who might have missed his [regrettably, all too brief] appearance, Count Nardin can be seen in episode 15 of season one, "The Darkness," which is what the scene at the top was also taken from.