She looked past the tattered clothes and scruffy face of the man hovering over the trashcan fire. In his eyes, far from vacant, she saw what others had missed — value. 

Words flowed from crimson lips. “I choose you this Christmas Eve.” 

He found sustenance in her winter-white bosom while her long nails detangled his hair. She blanketed him with her nakedness and desire. Fleeting embers of warmth became a raging inferno of desire as she sheathed his manhood and they made love.

In her reflective emerald eyes, he saw himself — a vibrant man ready to begin again.