Unfortunately, her other attempts to find a partner had been just as successful. Those men open to performing the ritual had already been paired up, and weren't looking for a third. Squaring her shoulders, Leah told herself again that it didn't matter. She would perform her worship to the Goddess on her own.
For a moment, she stood, breathing in the brine, which salted the air. Slowly, heedless to the cold, she began to undress.
Knowing that she would soon be taking it off, she hadn't bothered with a jacket. Instead, her fingers moved straight to the buttons on her blouse. As she languidly slipped them free, she summoned the proper reverence for the earth.
Waves crashed onto the shore, changing it minutely with every passing second. Gulls' cries rang out as they fished. The breeze tickled Leah's blond hair, swirling it around her face. When the last of her buttons popped free, she let her shirt slide from her shoulders and flutter to the sand.
After toeing off her boots, she set to work on her pants. The buzz of her jeans unzipping was overpowered by the white noise of the ocean. Tossing her head back, she breathed deeply as she undid her jeans' button. Bending down, she slowly slid her pants down her long legs.
When she straightened again, she was clad in nothing but her red silk bra and underwear. As her skin pimpled from the cold, she slid her hands along her arms, shoulders, and stomach, smoothing her goose bumps. Already, she felt the stirring in her stomach over what she knew was shortly to come. Trailing her fingers over her neck to her nape, she ran them through her thick blond locks, closing her eyes.
Almost time, she thought. Opening her eyes, she gazed up at the sun, shaded behind the thin haze of the winter clouds. She teased her fingers over her collarbone, sighing at the light touch, before she eased open the front clasp of her bra. As it fell to the ground, she heard a sound behind her.
When she spotted the tall, broad-shouldered man standing behind her with his jaw slack, she smirked. It seemed the Goddess didn't want her to worship alone this solstice, after all. Turning her gaze to the sky, she uttered a silent prayer of thanks before she returned her attention to the delicious stranger. She whisked her gaze over him, from his sandy brown hair and the stubble on his chin, down to the prominent bulge in his jeans. Suppressing the urge to lick her lips, she reached out her hand and beckoned him closer with one finger.
"Are you going to stand and watch?" she murmured, her voice husky. "Or will you join in?"
