He did not acknowledge us, at least not at first, even as we began to inch closer, all drawn to him by some inexplicable yearning. People spoke in whispers so hushed that even with the size of the crowd on the beach I could still hear him breathing. Long, low rushes, like wind through a forest.

I caught a sudden movement. A woman with long red hair came into view, gripping the fabric of the dragon's boxers and pulling herself up like a rock climber until she could stretch herself out on the big bulge in front (yes, I admit, that is where I had been staring). She was joined a moment later by a young man. Khael did not seem to mind. He simply rested back on his hands and gazed out to sea, taking no notice of them, or maybe pretending not to notice, but that changed when the girl pressed her face into the fabric and began rubbing her cheek against it. He sat up, eyeing her with a bemused expression before raising one massive hand and reaching for her. Blushing furiously, the guy shied away from the approaching hand, embarrassed, I guess, by his girlfriend's audacity, but he did not try to interfere even when the dragon's thumb and forefinger closed around her torso and lifted her up and up, all the way up to his face. Totally unafraid, she stretched out her arm to pet his nose. In response, the dragon's jaws parted just long enough to engulf that arm clear up to the elbow. He began to suckle playfully on it while peering down his muzzle at the woman's face. She laughed and swatted at his nose, and at that he began to suck harder. The girl's arm was drawn in until her cheek was pressed tightly to his lip, then with a toss of his head and a white flash of teeth she vanished, just like that.

The dragon kept up the suckling motion, his lips alternately pursing and relaxing, pursing and relaxing. Everyone on the beach, myself included, was dead silent, totally transfixed. After a while the woman's head emerged from between those lips. Her face was rapturous, her eyes closed and her own lips moving as she mumbled some words that none of us below could hear, while the whole time the dragon's jaw kept working. Before long, though, her blissful expression turned into something deeper, more visceral. Every one of her breaths was accompanied by a moan, and then soon by a wheezy little cry.

A few of the nearby fellows elbowed one another and grinned. We all knew what was happening. I watched as the woman's face grew increasingly flushed and her breaths more ragged, until she sucked in a sharp gasp and let out a squeal. Almost at the same time the tip of the dragon's tongue slipped out and covered her face. When it withdrew it carried her with it. I saw his throat pulse, clench, and then relax. Someone beside me laughed.

The young man was next. The dragon did not spend as much time teasing him as he had with the woman. Just a few dabs of the tongue to spur some squirming before casually slipping the little body between his lips. A quiet gulp. Gone.

There is no way to explain why I did not feel the need to flee in panic at the sight. I knew what had happened to them both, but somehow it seemed…I don't know. Far away. Like watching a movie.

Two girls, typical tanned surfer-types in identical yellow swimsuits, trotted up beside me. The dragon glanced down, his emerald gaze meeting my own. He smiled, briefly poked the tip of his tongue between his lips, then lowered his hand onto the sand in front of me, fingers outstretched in a clear invitation. I took a little step forward but the surfer girls were faster, bounding past me and leaping into the waiting palm. I could only watch jealously as he raised them up, cupped his hand around them before burying his nose in it.

We could not see what he was doing, but it was obvious that he was toying with them. I heard the two of them giggling and squealing for a good two or three minutes, until all at once they stopped. When at last he dropped his hand away from his snout there was no sign of them. With a coy smile he leaned to the side, lowered his head, and casually spat a sodden pair of identical yellow swimsuits onto the sand. A chorus of laughter rose from the crowd. Some even applauded.

The party atmosphere was returning quickly, with Khael the center of attention. People were pushing forward and jostling with each other just to touch him. In short order he was surrounded by little figures all running their hands over his legs and tail. The scaly hide twitched faintly at the caress, and he signaled his approval with a low, constant rumble, like an idling Diesel engine.

As for me? I stood back from the crowd, still staring, unable to look away from the fabric-covered hill. And I guess he took notice. Before I knew what was happening I found myself surrounded, two big fingers pressing in on me from each side. Squeezed in that warm embrace I was lifted from the sand and carried skyward, the rush making me dizzy. A moment later I was released on what I swear felt like a slab of concrete covered with a warm leather tarp. Ahead of me stretched a vast expanse of black fabric, while at my feet letters as tall as I was spelled out K-A-I-J-U. A claw hooked beneath the "A" and tugged upward, forming a triangular opening through which I saw…

Good God…!

But barely a second later he let go, allowing the fabric to snap back against his belly with a bang that left my ears ringing. Startled, I jumped backward and fell right on my butt. The landscape beneath me lurched as a low chuckle thundered around me. I looked back to see his big green eyes glittering with amusement, his tongue-tip once again poking from between his lips. "You big tease!" I scolded, then crawled forward and tried my best to lift the fabric myself. I managed to work my fingers beneath it, but that was about all.

Another chuckle bounced me off of my feet, and the dragon relented. Two huge thumbs slid beneath the "K" and the "U". Balanced on his elbows he lifted his hips and the fabric slid away, revealing his immensity in all its splendor. I tried to stand but swayed drunkenly and fell. I could only crawl, and crawl I did, clawing my way frantically toward something that was bigger than my whole body but which I still craved. When I finally reached it, it occurred to me that I had no idea what to do, so I did the first thing that came to mind: I placed a soft kiss upon the very tip. It swelled in response, briefly engulfing my face.

I only pulled back because I needed to breathe, and when I did I realized there was someone else standing beside me. She seemed stunned, standing and just staring, until the dragon's fingers appeared holding another, one of those muscle-bros that strut around the beach trying to hide from their urges. This one was no longer hiding and threw himself onto the still-growing bulk before him. The woman snapped out of her trance and joined him, and in time so did all of the others that Khael carefully plucked one by one from the sand and deposited on his lower belly.

A growl rumbled from behind us, not so much a command as it was an invitation. It was obvious what he wanted, and I suppose that all of us wanted it even more than he did. At first our efforts were chaotic, with a dozen or so human beings just swarming over him, some petting, others lapping, others tugging off their swimwear and trying to use their whole bodies. By the time he reached his full size we had begun to organize ourselves, pushing and pulling in unison, all working together to bring about that spectacular climax.

I recall being faintly aware that his hand was rising up nearby, with a group of what was probably twenty people or more clustered together in his palm. I was too focused on what I was doing to see what happened after it rose out of sight, but I remember that when his hand reappeared it was empty. Nothing to worry about, right? Just another day at the beach.

Something else that I remember that seemed totally irrelevant was a constant keening sound from beneath my feet. I could still hear it even with all the sounds of pleasure and exertion that were all around me. They were screams, muffled and far away, not party screams but more insistent, more urgent, and they were coming from inside of him.

I had no time to think about it, though, because I knew that he was getting close. The muscular expanse beneath me was tensing, unbelievably becoming even firmer that it had been. Behind me the deep rushes had become a roar, and when they stopped, I knelt before the altar that was weeping before me, prepared to receive my baptism. I watched it burst forth, only to be struck hard from the left side and sent tumbling head over heels. It was that damned muscle-head who had stolen my thunder. I had only a split second to see him get plastered against the giant's belly by a second gush before a sudden jerk of the dragon's hips robbed me of what little balance I had managed to regain. I was at the edge, arms scrabbling at the air, but there was nothing to grab onto and I fell.

The sand cushioned my fall for the most part, but it was not enough to prevent a snap in my right leg that was followed by a lightning bolt of pain. I sat up with a howl and noticed that my leg seemed to have a second knee in it. Any motion, no matter how small, sent fresh jolts through me, so I tried not to move a muscle. It even hurt to lift my head, but I managed to, and when I did I saw him lifting a naked woman from his lap to his lips. He gave her the most tender, the most delicate kiss, before laying her gingerly on his tongue.

My gut twisted. "Good god," I wheezed, "Don't!"

His lips closed. He swallowed, then reached for another.

The inner me scrambled out of its box and joined the outer. The throbbing in my leg told me everything that I needed to know. Pain was what broke the spell. That was the reason for the screaming that I had heard from inside. It probably started once they realized that they were being digested.

Now I very much wanted to run, ready even to risk the agony of hobbling on a broken leg, but this time it was the inner me that whispered, No. Don't attract his attention. I knew that little voice was right. All that I could do was sit motionless and watch in horror as the monster plucked every one of his intimate little helpers one by one from his lap, kissed them sweetly, then ate them alive. And I could see that every one of them was writhing in ecstasy even to the moment they disappeared.

The massive body suddenly shifted. Despite the searing pain I dragged myself backward, desperate to get clear as the dragon rose to his feet. I could have spared myself the trauma, though. He took great care as he did so, trying not to step on anyone as he made his way to the waterline and for the most part succeeding. Clearly he wanted us alive. After all, we are cattle to him.

He stopped to pick up his cast-off shorts and took one heavy step into the water, but for a moment he paused, then turned around. I stared, not at the titanic bulk that I and the others had so blindly worshipped, but at that muscle-bro who was still comically glued, spread-eagle, to the dragon's belly. He was shouting feebly, trying to get the dragon's attention, asking between nervous laughter to be pulled free. Khael paid no attention to him. Instead, he bent down and chose a tall and very pretty brunette from among the crowd. He carried her high into the air, toward his muzzle but then higher still, and set her down atop his head. She sat between those massive horns and clung to a spine as Khael turned back and waded out to sea. The waves crept further up his shins with each step until finally they reached his knees, at which point he slipped into the deep water, silencing the muscle-head's frantic shouts. Now only his head with its tiny passenger was visible, slowly retreating into the distance until it was barely a ripple on the horizon, and then it was gone.

A murmur rose around me. People were rubbing at their heads and blinking as though they had just woken from a dream. Their inner me's were no doubt emerging as mine had, because not one of them would look another in the eye. I could see the guilt burning on their cheeks as they turned, heads bowed, and slowly shuffled away from the beach.