Vampire's Cattle

By Jessie Jean Ketz

The world is no longer run by humans. Taken over by vampires a thousand years ago, the planet has been able to rejuvenate, and is now governed as a civilized society by The Collective. Prince Alexander Gronovski and his family are the owners of the world's only all female cattle farm. There responsibility - to provide vampire kind with feeders, and carriers for their offspring. The only way vampires can produce pure blood children is to undergo the impregnation ceremony. Alex and his lover Jade must over see the ceremony and deliver the vampire babies whilst fending off his killer father, a promised bride and hormonal humans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: May 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664105560

Jessie Jean Ketz

Jessie Jean Ketz was born in Victoria, Australia and grew up believing one day her superpowers would awaken. Her travels around Australia, have since taught the caring and quirky mother to five to embrace her uniqueness, as seen in her first novel Vampire’s Cattle. When not writing, Jessie Jean Ketz likes to indulge in all things delicious – chocolate, tea and creativity.

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Family Tree

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Chapter 1

Home

The sun’s final rays cast a gentle pink glow across the cattle yard closest to the house as he watched on. He saw the creeping in of the shadows from the mountains to the west and listened to the soft sounds of the cattle as they began to settle in for the night. Breathing deeply to draw the scent of the herd into his lungs, dressed only in the soft moss-green towel from his shower, he stepped off the lush carpet out onto the terracotta tiles of the large balcony as the last rays began to disappear from the sky.

With strong warrior’s arms resting on the railing of the balcony, Prince Alexander Gronovski looked out over the three hundred head of cattle which currently occupied one of the paddocks closest to the castle. This was one of the family’s many herds. He breathed in the scents of them, his vampire senses taking in all the notes on the air. She was in there. He could smell the scent of her. The one that was different from the others. Her scent was intoxicating in a way he did not yet understand but Alex promised himself he would find out soon who she was and why she affected him so. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the breeze that brought her to him.

‘My prince, are you ready to dine?’ came the gentle voice from one of his favourite feeders. She had entered his private chambers quietly and without fuss a little while ago but had stood silently waiting for him to move. The yellow gold of her heavy long hair and the sparkling clear blue of her eyes were well known to him.

‘Yes, Amber, I would like to dine outside tonight please’ he answered, turning to draw her towards him. Her graceful walk towards the soft green chaise he indicated brought a smile to his lips. She knew he liked to feed outside after the rain, and after the heavy falls of the past few days, when all the scents were clean and fresh and he could watch over his beloved cattle while exploring her young body and supping on her clean blood, especially when he had been away from home for so long.

Her sheer burgundy-coloured gown made her light-olive skin glow as she let it slip from her shoulders in a move calculated to initiate her master’s attention. Her steps, slow and deliberate, allowed him time to appreciate the fullness of her breasts and the sway of her hips as her gown continued to slither down her body. Pooling at her delicate feet, she stepped out of the gown before him and turned her back to him. This spoke volumes of the trust she had in him as it was well known that although feeding was both sexual and nourishing for a vampire, polite and socially acceptable feeding was a practiced art form which all vampires had to learn in order to be accepted members of society.

Her eyes lowered as the large hands of her master came around her tiny frame. Amber knew she was small framed, not seen as good enough to be a carrier; but with her large breasts, clean blood, and willingness to be a feeder, she served her master faithfully.

His gentle but strong large warrior hands slid around her shoulders. His heavily muscled arms encircled her in their protective band as he breathed in her scent. His bare chest pressed against her naked back.

‘Your blood is so pure, Amber. It calls to me,’ he whispered against her neck. He breathed in her scent again and appreciated the burgundy wine that was her. One strong masculine hand slipped up to caress and knead her breast. The soft pink nipple pebbled against his palm as he continued his worship of the offered breast. He tilted her head gently to the side, exposing the sensitive flesh of her neck, and kissed along it.

Her breathing was beginning to change, and her gentle moans encouraged his ministrations further towards his meal. Alex could hear the change to her heart rate. His hand slid down the smooth, flat plane of her abdomen towards her hip. Gently kneading her hip, he drew her back against him and lounged them both over the chaise.

She could feel the hard, rigid readiness of his need against her back as she slipped her hands behind to caress him. The towel he had been wrapped in provided no resistance for her educated fingers. She skimmed her palm over the hard length of him and past the tight quivering readiness to caress the smooth sensitive skin below. Her perfectly manicured nails scraped gently as she journeyed back up to caress his manly offerings. She heard him suck in a breath as her second hand joined the intimacy of the caress.

Nudging her legs, a little further apart, he tickled the curls at the nape of her feminine heat, licking her neck and scraping with his teeth when she began to move her hips in desire. Teasing her feminine core with his fingers, he opened his legs wider to accommodate her buttocks more firmly against him as he increased the tempo and rhythm his fingers were creating inside her.

‘Oh, my prince,’ her cries whispered to him urgently as her breathing turned to panting, and she wrapped her hand firmly around his masculine length, encouraging his hunger. He released her breast long enough to sweep her hair once again to the side before her release forced her to cry out; and he bit down on her exposed neck, feeding his hunger and his demon with her fresh, pure virgin blood.

She knew her master expected more from her than just her blood. He was a high-born vampire, one of tastes, needs, and desires. He required physical satisfaction that she was forbidden to give with her body in order to maintain her blood purity, but she had been feeding her master for six years now and knew exactly how to bring about his fulfilment.

As he licked the small puncture marks on her neck to stimulate them closed, she reached her hands down in front of herself through the space between their legs and began to caress him. Flexibility was one of Amber’s most practiced skills, and she regularly used it to satisfy her master. Amber straightened her legs and bent forward, standing with her head all the way forward and her feminine heat pointing towards the sky. Her thighs pressed firmly against his. She took him deep into her mouth whilst she continued to massage and suck him.

‘Faster,’ he hissed as he cradled her bouncing breasts and bit into her soft flesh again. The pure, warm blood flowed smoothly over his tongue as his feeder took him from her mouth with one hand and rubbed him between her breasts whilst she thrust two of her fingers deep into him and touched his innermost sensitive release.

Alex’s growl punctured the still night air. He struggled to remove his fangs as quickly as he could without hurting his feeder. His release was sudden and all-encompassing. He exploded between her breasts, covering her in the proof of his satisfaction. She continued to please him until he was completely satiated, and he drew her up on top of him to rest.

Hours later, Alex carried her easily through to the chaise he kept for his feeders in a private room off his bedroom. Here she could rest and shower before she left his chambers. Laying her on the chaise, he smoothed her golden hair back from her face and pressed a kiss to her head.

‘My prince,’ she whispered in a sleepy tone. ‘You should replenish,’ and she arched her back and traced the contours of her breast for him.

He knew those that served by feeding ran the risk of becoming addicted to the bite of their masters. Alex was careful to never let this happen, which was why he kept multiple feeders, but Amber’s blood was one which called to him. He did not know why, but for him, she tasted both sweet and pure. Like the finest of wine and the smoothest chocolate. All he knew was that sometimes the call was difficult to resist.

Alex knelt before her on the chaise and traced the line of her breast with his tongue and fingers.

‘If I replenish from you now, I will not feed from you for a week, sweet Amber, do you understand?’

‘Yes, my prince, but you must be strong for the contingent that arrives in a month,’ she whispered. ‘Please, my prince, I serve you with all that I am.’

‘My sweet Amber, you call to me even when you mean to do nothing more than serve.’ He took her breast into his mouth whilst his free hand worshiped the other. He suckled the nipple to attention and, as she started to moan and move about on the chaise, thrust both his fangs and his fingers inside her. She gasped and cried out in ecstasy as he took his fill and left her on a cloud of pleasure. Covering her with a soft blanket, he turned the light down and left to get on with his day.

Back in the shower, Alex reflected on the past ten months he had been away from home. He had been away on business for the farm, inspecting homes of potential and repeat clients, booking mating cycles, and trading cattle with the two other farms which supplied the carriers required to give vampire couples the children they desired. This was a complex business and required artful negotiations to broker deals across the world. He was pleased to be home because although he ran the farm, and ran it very well, he was a warrior at heart.

His father and mother had been part of the twenty-three royal bloodlines that had been responsible for the uprising of vampire kind. Known as the Takeover, the vampiric community, tired of the destruction the humans had sown all over the earth and living in constant fear for their own lives and those of their families, had come up with a plan. The ruling families banded together to overthrow the humans and create a new world. One of the royal bloodlines had been killed off completely during the battle. The Domeszek line was wiped out but continued to be remembered by the remaining royal lines, especially during mating cycles. The loss of the Domeszek family continued to remind the remaining families about the importance of family and ensuring they continued on their own lines. The takeover had been three thousand years ago.

Successful breeding of vampire children was a difficult task, not only because of the necessity for the male vampire to be made partially mortal, and thus vulnerable to attack, but also the difficulty with getting a carrier to get all the way through a pregnancy. Vampire children grew much faster than human children, which put the carrier in jeopardy from the moment of conception until after the child was born.

With the diminished use of technology since the takeover, and no destructive weapons, the natural resources had begun to recover; and the planet was once again thriving. The ocean was once more teeming with life, and the lands recovered with vegetation. This was mostly due to the strict rules and punishments agreed upon by the vampire ruling families and put in place prior to the takeover.

Each royal line was assigned a territory of its own to rule over and a specific task to ensure the success of vampire kind. Civility was placed at a high premium and could bring catastrophic consequences if breached. The governmental system, called the Collective, was made up of the two senior members from each family. The Collective made the rules and enforced severe and swift punishments for any breach of these mandates. The world of vampires was a brutal and dangerous one. The ruling class was not known for nurturing or kindness. They were often brutal and cruel, but this was the way of order and control.

His father, along with the Abdikarim and Sung-Chong royal lines, had taken on the positions of cattle farmers. Their job was to create an endless and sustainable herd of cattle. The cattle were subdivided into categories determined by their suitability to conceive, carry and birth vampiric children, provide care for the carriers, become feeders for their masters, or act as servants for the farms and vampire kind which lived in small towns outside the castle areas. The Gronovski farm was the only farm to produce female-only cattle. Both of the other farms produced male cattle which were used as feeders, labour, or servants.

The three farms were owned and run by pure-blood vampires and provided the only legalised forms of cattle farming. Occasionally a small group of created vampires that lived in the towns outside of the castles attempted to create their own farm, but this was quickly and ruthlessly discouraged by the deadly armies kept to serve each family.

Alex’s close circle of generals, known as the Maa Sen, was a group of eight warrior vampires, from different parts of the earth, that had sworn their lives to him at varying times over the last thousand years. The men of the Maa Sen, like Alex, each had their own unique gift and skills with a particular weapon. It was often one of the Maa Sen that led the army and carried out the discouragement of rogue farms forming. Discord amongst vampire kind could once again turn the world into chaos, and that was unacceptable.

Alex knew the next four months were going to be hectic. He had two mating cycles booked, each cycle aiming to match four vampire couples with a carrier and conceive a child. He also had the Aiko, Deshal, Tloloc, Armstrong, McTiernan, and Lycus royal lines coming to acquire house staff and feeders. This meant ensuring the cattle’s training was complete. He hoped his sister had done her job.

Chapter 2

The Deliverer

Whispers were spreading through the village that Prince Alexander or Prince Alex, as he was known, had returned home. Jade listened to the chatter of the younger girls in her herd, saying he had been seen riding through the gates earlier in the day and he looked as handsome as he did the day he left ten months ago. Jade rolled her eyes, collected hers and Emerald’s food from the fire pots, and headed back to her seat, muttering something unintelligible about vampires not changing in ten months because they were immortal.

‘Are all potential carriers so empty-headed when it comes to him?’ Jade whispered to the woman that had been caring for her since she was brought to the farm as a baby, as she placed the bowl of hot stew in front of her. ‘Don’t they understand that when they catch his eye, their lives will change and possibly not for the better?’

Emerald pattered her hand soothingly. ‘They are young. They will gain knowledge and experience once they are chosen and their training begins. Besides which, you know it’s what they must do so they can be chosen. Would you have them hate him and themselves for doing what they must?’

‘No, you’re right as usual, Emerald. I just don’t understand why they need to sound so empty-headed. I know it’s our place to serve the vampires, but do they have to gawk like stunned fish each time he comes down to the village?’

‘Not all of us have your lucky ability to withstand their mesmerisation, and besides, as a carer, should you not be more compassionate? After all, it is your job to care for them and their babies.’

‘I’m not a qualified carer yet, Emerald, you know that. I still have two years’ training to complete first, but yes, you are right, I should be more compassionate. After all, we can’t all have brains. Some of you are cursed with beauty.’ Her large green eyes lifted towards the castle balcony she knew belonged to Prince Alex. On each rotation of her herd that brought them to be close to the castle, Jade had spent many an evening gazing up at that exact balcony and wishing he would notice her for her brains. The breeze tugged at Jade’s long crimson braid and tickled her neck. She could just make out his silhouette standing at the railing before he turned and walked towards a female figure that approached him from behind.

Later that night, tucked up asleep on her fur skin pallet against the cold night air, Jade recalled the silhouette on the balcony. She could not see his features, but she knew in her heart and in her mind who he was. That height was unmatched, and the way the breeze caught at his curls she had witnessed many times in her dreams, and from afar. She had secretly wished, countless times, it was her being held in those powerful arms and sharing her life force with him.

Jade saw herself wave up at him and watched transfixed as he leaped over the side of the balcony, landing in a graceful but fierce catlike crouch. He straightened and looked at her over the distance. Jade saw herself running towards him and him towards her. Caught up in his arms, he buried his face in her neck as she hugged him to herself. He smelt fresh and clean from his shower. His hair was damp in her fingers. He kissed her on the lips, and she kissed him back. Jade woke with a start, panting and clutching the blankets to her heaving breast.

‘Oh no,’ she breathed into the darkness. ‘No, it can’t be true. It’s forbidden for a vampire to love cattle.’ Jade buried her head under the blankets and shook with fright and trepidation for the remaining hours of darkness. He would kill her if he ever found out. As the sky began to lighten the smallest amount, a thought crept into her stricken consciousness. What if her vision were true? What if he was destined to love her and she love him?

Chapter 3

Preparation

‘Now, my dears,’ the exquisite raven-haired Marret Gronovski encouraged as she walked the length of the bathing chamber in the filtered, coloured light coming through the huge stained-glass windows. She glanced from bathtub to bathtub, eyeing her new group of potential charges critically. The group of young cattle had been mustered early that morning and were currently being bathed and reclothed by her personal army of trusted household staff. The jumble of scents coming from the maidens was an assault on her vampire senses, and she made a mental note. I must remind my maidens to teach the young ones to use the potions, lotions, and perfumes on their skin with a light hand.

‘Remember your job as a feeder is not just to provide your virgin blood for your master but to feed all his or indeed her needs. If you are chosen as a carrier, you will have the higher honour of being mated to a vampire to carry and birth his child.’ She read the mixture of excitement and fear in their young faces. This was one of the most honourable and sought-after positions a human could achieve. Everyone knew the deadly creatures trusted very few. To be given the trust of a vampire and to carry their unborn child, no greater honour existed.

‘If you are suitable for one of the positions, you will be rehomed here in the castle, in the zenana, and your education will begin tomorrow.’ Having given this exact speech many times, Marret paused to allow the cattle time to briefly imagine what could be possible for them should they be chosen. They had all seen the beautiful ladies that came to live in the castle and serve their masters.

‘If you are unsuitable to hold the position of either feeder or carrier, you will be assessed as to your usefulness to the farm and either made a household servant, a cattle carrier, or a farmhand.’

She locked gazes with each one of them in turn, informing them clearly, ‘If you are no good for anything, you will be sent outside the compound to either be set upon by feral, untrained human males or die in the wilderness.’

Gasps and wild looks of fright told her the young cattle were aware of what would happen to them should they prove to be displeasing.

Pausing at the end of the two rows of luxurious white marble bathtubs, Marret turned to once again gather their gazes. ‘Once you are properly attired, you will be escorted to the examination chamber for the first part of your testing.

‘Good luck,’ she whispered as she swept out of the room, leaving the new cattle with her staff.

The two household staff members assigned to each new cattle were assailed with questions in both anxious excitement and fear. All of the beauties that currently tended to the bathing were affectionately called Marret’s maidens and had been in the exact positions these new charges were now. They understood the fear, the excitement, and what was at stake. Marret’s maidens were all accomplished feeders in their own right and used their knowledge to teach and prepare the young cattle in their care.

‘What sort of tests? How do they test us? Will it hurt? Will we get to see Prince Alex and Prince Victor? Will we also feed ladies? What did the princess mean other pleasures? Will they teach us everything we need?’ was repeated around the room in varying tones. Marret’s maidens continued to scrub and make ready their charges with gentle smiles of knowledge dancing across their coloured lips.

Upon completion of the bathing, the potential feeders were brushed until their hair glistened, polished until their skin shone, painted of face and nails, perfumed, and dressed in sheer, flowing harem robes. The curves and contours of their young supple bodies easily made out under the thin materials that from now on would be the only form of clothing they wore. The jewelled colours of the gowns had been chosen to highlight hair and eye colours to the best advantage. Delicate silk house slippers adorned their painted feet, and each was fitted with a bracelet and anklet designed to jingle delicately as they moved. Each anklet and bracelet contained the jewel bestowing the gem or crystal of the potential feeder’s name and the Gronovski family crest. This form of branding was designed to show ownership without damaging the cattle and was a widely practiced method of identification for apprentice feeders and carriers.

The ceremony for progression to full feeder station included a permanent tattoo branding and the removal of the temporary identification jewellery. Once the status of feeder was achieved, the feeder could be gifted jewellery by her master. These gifts showed they were valued by their master.

Marshalled into two lines by the tiny dark-haired woman that was without doubt the lead maiden, the potential feeders were surrounded and escorted through the castle down to the testing dungeons. The room was clearly made up to cater to beautiful maidens as they awaited their turn in the testing chambers. Lit by worked iron candelabra and adorned with large brightly coloured cushions, low tables covered in fruits, cheese, flatbreads, and jugs of cider welcomed the nervous group. The enormous clean and well-lit room did not look like a dungeon except for its location underneath the castle.

At the opposite end of the chamber to their entry was a substantial set of heavy gold- and jewel-encrusted wooden double doors. Two well-dressed guards armed with shining swords and dangerous-looking spears stood to attention on either side of the doors awaiting their orders.

‘Listen carefully,’ the