Senka waited till they were all gone before she turned, finger to her lips for silence but a firm smile in place. She waved them toward the exit and followed them closely.

Chapter 15

Timothy Carver shivered in the evening cold and came to the conclusion that it was time to head to the shelter for the night. The idea of a hot dinner and a warm bed took center stage in his mind’s eye, survival imperatives crowding out the daily litany of life’s regrets, anxieties, and even his core personal anger.

Tucking his hands into the pockets of his fatigue jacket, he let his feet turn him toward North Winooski and the vision of food and heat. He was not too excited about the idea of others being present, as he trusted no one and had little use for all other people, even his fellow street inhabitants.

He trudged forward in the early darkness of northern Vermont’s late fall, part of him noting his surroundings, part of him focused deep down inside.

His street-honed awareness alerted him to a slim form that was headed in his direction on the sidewalk, just now bathed in a pool of illumination from an overhead streetlight. Female, student, and young was the assessment his brain provided with just a glance. LL Bean boots, leggings, and a green UVM sweatshirt gave away much of that information, just as the older, reptilian parts of his brain rated her overall health as high, based on muscular, shapely hips and legs, and glossy black hair.

The anger that seemed central to his person rose within him as he studied her approaching figure, and his glance became a fixated leer by the time she drew close enough to make out the details of his face. He pulled his hands from his pockets and clenched both fists.

Now, within several strides of her, would be the moment she became afraid of him, the delicious instant when her privileged, protected place in society would seem too far away to provide her any sense of security.

She looked up, met his eyes, and widened her own. He saw the instant evaluation, the instinctive, genetically programmed assessment, take place. But instead of ducking her head, cringing, or stepping far to the side, she did something shocking. She smiled. Right at him.

It wasn’t a friendly smile, or maybe it was better to say it wasn’t just friendly, but held a deeper, hotter meaning within the gleam in her eyes and the light moistening of her lips with the tip of her little pink tongue.

She was right up on him now, and he froze at the unexpected response. She kept moving, coming right up to him and, without any hesitation, reaching out to touch the back of his bare left hand.

Need. Sudden, instant, overwhelming need flooded his system, making him instantly, painfully erect, driving down every thought but the biological drive to dominate and subdue this female.