The Gilded Cage

I don't own Creed or anything in the Marvel Universe. This is not a continuation of the Cat series, but a standalone piece. When Victor Creed claims something as his own, he doesn't give up easily.

All the usual disclaimers…except I think I would like to own him…maybe chained in the dungeon…but that's a-whole-nother story.

A/N Sorry this chapter is so short...

Chapter 13

"I understand…I understand that I love you, and God help the world if anything ever hurts me."

He was lying in his bed, her head resting on his chest. After their bath he had carried her back to the bed and made love to her again. They had dozed off afterward, and a slight noise had awakened him. She loved him. He was shocked. He hadn't done anything to earn it, to deserve it, and his Venus loved him.

He remembered watching her back the Runt into a wall, yesterday. Not much intimidated the Runt, but his Annabelle had. He couldn't stop grinning at the memory. She was his, HIS Annabelle. Completely, totally, she had given herself to him. HOW the hell that had happened he still wasn't completely sure.

The he heard the noise again. It wasn't Elaine or Arden, but someone was moving in the house. He slipped his arm from around his sleeping Venus, and slid out from underneath her body. She moaned a little in her sleep, and then curled up with a pillow, her golden hair creating a blanket across the white sheet.

He pulled on a pair of sweat pants, and stalked to the bedroom door.

"Jean, this isn't a good idea." He heard someone whisper harshly. It didn't sound like the Runt, must be the kid with the shades.

"We need to tell them what we found."

"That's what phones are for."

He pulled the door open as they tried to sneak up to it.

"The last bunch of X Geeks who came into my house unannounced got to deal with my wife…" He was standing in the door staring at the red head and her boyfriend with the funny glasses.

"Victor…what's going on?" She moaned from the bed. She was still half asleep.

"Just more unwanted guests, I'll deal with it this time, go back to sleep." He heard her moving on the bed, and looked back. She had climbed out and was wrapping the sheet around her.

"Annabelle, its Jean, I have some information about your mutation. Please, let us talk to you."

"Let them in…sheesh…can't have a moment's peace around here." He chuckled at her tone. She was just as annoyed as he was. At least she wasn't afraid, or angry, either one would have both the X Geeks bleeding in the hall.

"I have a better idea, I'll take them downstairs, to the living room, and you join us when you are decent." He grabbed them both by the arm and forced them to the top of the stairs and down. He pushed them into the living room and to the couch.

"Have a seat." He sat in one of the chairs. He heard Annabelle moving around upstairs and gave the two Geeks a nice feral grin. He was starting to wonder if it would be worth stressing Arden out to have to clean blood off the cream carpet, when she joined them.

She had put on a simple dress, and he could smell she hadn't bothered to shower. She still smelled like him, and damn it smelled good. He couldn't stop the grin getting bigger as he grabbed her hand as she passed by and pulled her down into his lap. She glared up at him and then just snuggled against his chest.

"You had something you needed to tell me." She said to the red headed doctor.

"Yes. I did a complete analysis of your blood work back at the lab. It appears that you will form a permanent bond with a male, your body will choose who it is, and you will be bound to him for life. And from the looks of things, that bond has already formed."

"Is this bond dangerous to me or Victor?"

"Yes and no. You will draw energy from your partner; it will fuel your healing factor, and projective healing abilities. Your partner will be your sole source of energy for this, if anything happens to your partner, you will most likely die."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that Victor is my partner, err…mate…whatever." He chuckled against her back. He was getting several ideas concerning his new…MATE…WHAT THE FUCK!

The idea of a mate hadn't entered his mind, especially not a mate that wasn't a feral. She was art, ok, more than art, but she was still a frail.

"Wait, if I ain't there, she can die?"

"Yes." He swallowed hard. He had planned on being responsible for her life, but not quite so…intimately. Well, he had to admit, regular sex would help his bloodlust issues. Like blood could tame his out of control sexual lust, satisfying his lust kept him below a berserk rage.

"Your projective empathic and healing ability is extremely strong, but extremely focused. It is completely related to sexual energy, you can trigger sexual reactions in anyone around you, and your range, is well, impressive. You can also use sex as a healing power, but you would have to be in physical contact with the person you are trying to heal. You can use the sexual energy of people around you and channel that into a healing power, the only limitations we can find for the healing power are you have to be in physical contact with the injured person, and you can only focus sexual energy, oh and you can't bring people back from death."

"If I have to have a mate for my healing to work, why did I heal up…before?"

"You have a slight healing factor on your own, not as strong as Victor's, with him as your mate, you will heal as quickly as he does, and probably live as long as he does. Before the mate bond was completed, you were able to draw energy from people around you, but not as much, or as well, and it should have left you drained, even a little depressed." The red head looked at him.

"Victor, I need to make this clear, her life depends on you, now. I hope you understand how serious that is." She stood up, her companion rising with her. "Scott and I will leave you two alone now, and Victor, please leave Logan alone." He just growled at the red head.

Their guests left, and he considered getting up and getting dressed, but it was so nice sitting there with her in his lap that he didn't move.

"Victor, is this going to be a problem?"

"No. Last night proved that I can…appreciate you without hurting you."

"Appreciate…is that what you call it." He could tell she was teasing him. She turned her body in his lap until she was facing him.

He chuckled. "Well, you are a work of art."

She laughed, and twined her arms around his neck. "As long as YOU think so, I think I can live with that." She reached up and kissed him. He twined her hair around the fingers of one hand, the other caressing up and down her thigh.

"Sir, I wasn't aware that you were in here." Elaine said as she came in with the vacuum cleaner.

"I think we are going back to bed." He stood up, Annabelle in his arms. "I think Mrs. Creed and I would like our breakfast in bed this morning." He saw the grin on Elaine's face.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Creed." She said.

He carried Annabelle up the stairs and back to his bedroom. Let the housekeeper figure out which bed they were going to be in.

He laid her down in the middle of the bed, with every intention of 'appreciating' her again but he noticed the small email icon on his computer.

"I'll be just a second…" He said to the woman on the bed.

She just laughed and sat up, reaching behind her to manipulate the zipper on her dress while he cleared his email. His attention was half on his Venus when the email in front of him demanded all of his attention.

This was just too good an opportunity to pass up. He buzzed Arden and Elaine.

"Get packed, everything, we will be heading to the London townhouse."

"How long will we be there?" His butler asked.

"Indefinitely."

He knew the couple would enjoy a trip back to their homeland, and he would have a chance to show his Venus the world. He looked back over to the bed. Her dress was down off one shoulder and she was giving him a pouty come hither look. Packing could wait.

He stood up, and walked to the bed. A fifty million dollar contract, loyal comfortable servants to see to their needs and his Venus were all he was going to need for a long time.