Darhower Quotes

Never take back something you meant. I'd rather you offend me intentionally if it's something you believe than lie to my face just to placate me. ~ J.M. Darhower

How about we just be Haven and Carmine?" she suggested. "We don't know the ending, but we can always hope for the best."
"I like that," he said. "Besides, there's a reason we don't know how the story ends."
"Why?"
"Because it doesn't. ~ J.M. Darhower

I'm surprised you haven't cried foul before. I won a hundred and twenty-three games in a row. You had to know something wasn't right." Her eyes narrowed. "You've been cheating?" "Of course," he said. "Come on. You really think I play fair? If I want something, I get it. I told you - I make all the rules here." "You . . . you . . . you. . ." Anger clouded her expression. "You asshole!" Lucifer's eyes widened. "Tell me how you really feel, angel. ~ J.M. Darhower

Some things in life only happen once, the memories of them lasting forever. they're moments that alter you, turning you into a person you never thought you'd become, but someone you were always destined to be. ~ J.M. Darhower

Everything about her is beautiful to me. Even when she's scowling, when she's angry and full of hate. She's beautiful when she cries, when she's in the throes of grief. She's beautiful when she smiles, when she laughs at me. But she's the most beautiful when she's doing nothing. When she thinks nobody's looking, when she thinks she's alone. ~ J.M. Darhower

It's been six years, Jonathan. Six years."

"I know, but I just…"

"You just what? Assume I still love you?"

"Do you? ~ J.M. Darhower

It's hard to feel alive when you've been obliterated inside, hard to feel real when you no longer remember how to dream. ~ J.M. Darhower

This wasn't lust. It was something else, something greater. This wasn't want; this was need, more so than she had ever felt before. It was despair, a drowning man desperate for air, a starving man scrounging for scraps to sustain him. He clung to her, like he held on for dear life, afraid of drifting away. No, not lust. This was love. And ~ J.M. Darhower

She seemed like a keeper. Housewife material, verses your usual whorehouse type. ~ J.M. Darhower

They say when seeking revenge, dig two graves, one for you and one for them. ~ J.M. Darhower

He pushes in then, slowly, deeply, stroking a chord inside of me. My breath hitches. Oh God.
"I love that sound," he whispers, his voice gritty. "It's the best music in the world."
I wrap my arms around him. "Maybe that should be your ringtone, then."
He laughs, his face nuzzled into my neck. "That wouldn't work."
"Why?"
"Because others would hear it. That sound belongs only to my ears. ~ J.M. Darhower

But then she happened. The girl who had never been able to call her life her own taught a boy who had the world at his fingertips exactly what it meant to live. He wasn't alone anymore. ~ J.M. Darhower

Reference when we talked about Machiavelli, didn't you? I could've sworn you did." "Just because I don't enjoy it doesn't mean I know nothing about it. Tupac was around back in my wind-up phonograph days, you know." I cast her a sardonic look, which makes her laugh and shrug, as if to say 'hey, not my fault you're an old ass man.' "I'm surprised you know anything about him, actually. He died around the time you were born." "Yeah, well, music never really goes out of style, especially Tupac," she says with a smile. ~ J.M. Darhower

I've skimmed through it a dozen times, the book glued to my side the past few days, like maybe the information will sink in through osmosis. ~ J.M. Darhower

You smell like my brother. His scent is all over you. It reeks. ~ J.M. Darhower

Give in to it, angel."
"Give in to what?"
"The hunger," he said, his tongue slowly running across his bottom lip. "The need. Give in to the craving. Give in to me."
"Never," she whispered, the word impulsively tumbling from her lips, no conviction in her feeble voice.
"I know you feel it, deep inside of you, screaming out to be acknowledged, to be satiated," he continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I can sense it, clawing underneath your skin, begging to be let loose, begging to be invited out to play. ~ J.M. Darhower

Yes." I answer instantly, ~ J.M. Darhower

Every "I hate you" echoing from her chest was followed by an "I love you" from his lips. Every time she begged him to let go, he told her he would be there forever. His hold was strong, his arms familiar, but it did nothing to take away her pain. ~ J.M. Darhower

I'm not heartless - my heart is just hardened, while the rest of me is hollow. ~ J.M. Darhower

face your fears and wipe your tears ~ J.M. Darhower

And you don't know this, but that girl? The one left outside of that school alone? She's sitting there writing about you. You have all the makings of a modern-day tragic hero, and she's never felt so compelled to explore somebody's story before… ~ J.M. Darhower

He bowed jokingly, and everyone laughed as Mrs.Anderson shook her head. "Did you even read the material?"
"of course I did."
"Who was the leader of the North?"
"Lincoln."
"No, he was the president."
"Yes, which means he was the fucking leader of everyone."
Carmine ~ J.M. Darhower

It's not the darkness that's terrifying, it's what you might find in it. ~ J.M. Darhower

The opposite of love isn't hate. ~ J.M.Darhower

She's oxygen, and without her, I'm dead. ~ J.M. Darhower

I like your nail polish," you say, your voice playful, as she picks up her yet untouched notebook. ~ J.M. Darhower

I don't want just bits and pieces of you that I can steal away. I told you - you're worth more than being someone's secret."
"Yeah, well, it's not really a secret anymore," she declared.
"I know it isn't."
She groaned. "Then what, Corrado? What do you want?"
His strong hands cupped both of her cheeks as he leaned down toward her. He stared into her eyes, drinking in the devotion she - for some godforsaken reason - felt toward him. "I'm a greedy man, Celia. I want everything. ~ J.M. Darhower

Everything I do, I do it in excess; everything I have, I have more of than I'll ever need. ~ J.M. Darhower

Her bitch of a mother shot me and I'm only worried about her. Go figure. ~ J.M. Darhower

In the words of Meredith Grey, you're dark and twisty, okay? ~ J.M. Darhower

She's an infuriatingly stubborn woman, I know it, but she's my stubborn woman, and my hands are the only ones that will ever wrap around her throat. ~ J.M. Darhower

I'd rather have a reason to fight than to just give up right from the start. I don't care if the hope is a lie and I'm just delaying the inevitable… at least give me something to cling to. Something's always better than nothing. ~ J.M. Darhower

Besides, books are nothing more than paper and ink, anyway. They're like, dead trees all covered in tattoos, and I happen to think that's beautiful. ~ J.M. Darhower

It's just a dress. But you? You're beautiful. Dressed up, dressed down, not dressed at all. You're beautiful every way you come ... especially when you come. ~ J.M. Darhower

She talks to me about regret, but what she doesn't realize is that even if she destroys me in the end, I'll never want to erase what we have. I'd never want to take back a single moment of this. ~ J.M. Darhower

Yeah, well, it's really none of your business, is it?"
"No."
"There you go, then," she says, waving her juice at me before taking another swig. "Unless you're planning to lick it or stick it, Lorenzo, keep your nose out of my business. ~ J.M. Darhower

I don't want him to stop. I want to be his. I want to be his everything. I want him to take me, and make me, and use me, and abuse me, because he thinks he has control and I know now that's what he craves. ~ J.M. Darhower

Holy fuck. This man and those hands... he doesn't play fair. At all. He presses buttons he's got no business pressing. ~ J.M. Darhower

It's fascinating, watching the surge inside of them
manifesting physically, relief sparking in their eyes when they think maybe, just maybe, they'll make
it.
Maybe they'll live.
Maybe they'll survive it.
They never do. ~ J.M. Darhower

I squeeze my eyes shut tighter, trying to imagine another world again. A world where we're happy, where we're together, where we're away from all of this.
A world without a target on our backs.
A world where Naz comes home.
A world where we can live in peace.
A world that's just ours. ~ J.M. Darhower

He motions toward my discarded cigarette butt. Littering ~ J.M. Darhower

I've missed the fuck out of her these past few years. I don't deserve her time, not in the least, but I'm so desperate for some part of this woman back that I'll steal every second that I can get. ~ J.M. Darhower

He's a gentle giant, harmless and soft, like a teddy bear.

Except deep down, I know he's not.

And when his eyes cut my way, and I see the darkness on the surface, I'm reminded that this man hangs out with monsters.

And one might even exist inside of him. ~ J.M. Darhower

We're a tragedy in the making. The game of tug-of-war we're playing will end up destroying us, because she doesn't have it in her to surrender, and I can't let go. ~ J.M. Darhower

Who was the leader of the North?"
"Lincoln."
"No, he was the president."
"Yes, which means he was the fucking leader of everyone."
Mrs. Anderson's face clouded with anger. Oops. "You won't use that language in my classroom."
"Could've fooled me," he said, "because I thought I already did. ~ J.M. Darhower

His full name is Ignazio Vitale, although once, not so long ago, he urged me to call him
Naz. And it was Naz who charmed me, who won me over and made me melt. It wasn't until
later that I got to know the true Ignazio, and by the time I met Vitale, it was far too late to just
walk away. ~ J.M. Darhower

Torturous screams bounced around in his head, whimpers and cries of pain and lust clouding his mind, overbearing and foreboding. Sinning surrounded him, suffocating him, imprisoning him like a straightjacket. He tried to drive the noise away, to force it back and focus on something else, but the ruckus never stopped, never let up. It hindered his connection to the world outside the gates, muffling everything else to mere background noise. Blah, blah, motherfucking blah. This was his Hell: the inescapable torment he endured all alone. He craved silence but was awarded chaos. Instead of light and vitality, he existed in utter darkness. His Archangel nature helped him take it all in stride, but it was never easy, even for the one the world saw as the enemy. Satan ~ J.M. Darhower

If I'm not a glorified prostitute, I don't know what one is. ~ J.M. Darhower

There isn't a button," she said. "You choose your setting and then you pull the dial."
He glanced at her as she folded a shirt, annoyed by her nonchalance at doing laundry. "What exactly is my setting? It looks to me like the setting is the goddamn laundry room and the plot is I don't know how to fucking turn this thing on. ~ J.M. Darhower

Got a job for you, Seven."
"Yeah?"
"I need you to find someone."
"Who?"
"A woman," I say. "About five and a half feet tall. Brown hair. Brown eyes."
"That describes half the women in New York."
"Yeah, well, the one I'm looking for is twenty-one or so," I say. "She's good-looking, kind of curvy for being so petite... got a red 'S' tattooed on her wrist..."
He stares at me, like he expects more information. "What else?"
I shrug, glancing at the high heels, flipping them over to look at the red soles. "She wears a size thirty-nine shoe."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Shouldn't be too hard," he says, blinking a few times as he looks at the ground. "Only a couple million people in the city."
"That's the spirit," I say, slapping him on the back. ~ J.M. Darhower

Maybe Cinderella didn't live happily ever after. Maybe, come midnight, she wanted to run away. Maybe her price wouldn't let her. Mine didn't. ~ J.M. Darhower

I'm going to tell you something that a wise man once told me: it's not the darkness that's terrifying, it's what you might find in it. I was always afraid of the dark as a child, afraid monsters would sneak into my room at night, but now I know there's nothing to fear. Not because monsters don't exist. They do. I've seen them. I've encountered them. One attacked me as I slept. I even became one myself afterward. No, the reason there's nothing to fear in the dark is because real monsters lurk in the light, too. They hide in plain sight. The trick is to find them before they can get you. I'm not a good man. I'm not. I know...I've learned my lesson. I find peace in the darkness sometimes now. I find peace with her. I'll never forget, but she makes me feel like it's okay to remember. It's okay to remember the pain and fear. It's okay to admit the darkness terrified me. Because I found some light in it. I found her. ~ J.M. Darhower

At least, when invisible, she remained safe. ~ J.M. Darhower

He was Carmine Marcello DeMarco ... and even broken, he was beautiful. ~ J.M. Darhower

Do you still feel that?" he asked, nipping at the skin near her collarbone. "The electricity between us? Please tell me you feel it."

"I feel it," she whispered.

"I need you, Haven," he said, his voice cracking as the words caught in his throat. ~ J.M. Darhower

They're not going to take another life from me.
They can't have my wife.
They can't take her.
They can't steal my happiness.
I'm not going to let them.
Not now. Not ever.
Not again.
Not again. ~ J.M. Darhower

Lust was his favorite sin, without a doubt. ~ J.M. Darhower

I should kill you, I fucking wish I had it in me to do it. ~ J.M. Darhower

Really?"
"Yeah. I see that asshole every day when I look in the mirror. I don't need a picture of him."
"Thank you," she said enthusiastically. ~ J.M. Darhower

I Just want people to see me," she said. "I want to walk into a room and have them know I'm there. I just don't want to be invisible anymore."

"I see you, hummingbird ~ J.M. Darhower

I told you to make yourself at home," he says. "I don't want you to feel like you have to tiptoe around, afraid of doing something wrong or hearing something you shouldn't, like phone conversations." My blood runs cold at those words. I can feel his eyes on me and not the screen. "I, uh ... " I don't know what to say. "It's okay," he says, those words silencing me. He kisses the top of my head again, subject closed as he goes back to watching the movie. A few minutes pass before Naz lets out a light laugh. "So, tell me something ... did you at least google me? ~ J.M. Darhower

Uh, I'm thankful for you all, even if you get on my nerves sometimes," Carmine said. "Oh, and orgasms ... definitely thankful for those. ~ J.M. Darhower

Reminding her that just because you lose a few battles doesn't mean you'll lose the whole war. ~ J.M. Darhower

They don't sleep here." My brow furrows. "How do you know?" "I just know," he says. "I can tell by looking at it." Before I can ask him any more, the curtain in the living room moves. The door yanks open, my mother appearing, eyes wide. She looks frantic. "Karissa," she shouts, her voice high-pitched, full of panic. "Oh God. Get away from him, sweetie." I blink a few times, caught off guard, as Naz slips his arms around me, pulling me flush against him. One arm encircles my waist as his other settles along my chest, ~ J.M. Darhower

Sometimes I lose perspective, but it helps to stop and look around. I may not have it all, but I have more than enough. And enough, it seems, is more than most have ... ~ J.M. Darhower

[ ... ] I'll fucking kill them all. Every single one of them."
Corrado's voice rang out beside them. "Too late. They're all already dead."
Carmine glared at his uncle. "Well, we'll bring those motherfuckers back to life then. ~ J.M. Darhower

Go for it, while you can. I know you have it in you. And I can't promise you'll get everything you want, but I can promise nothing will change if you don't try. ~ J.M. Darhower

My world was a sunny sky before him, a pretty picture my mother drew for me, and he painted it all black with the truth, splattering it with red from the bloodshed. ~ J.M. Darhower

He didn't care what she said - happiness was a lot more than good health and a poor memory. Happiness was this. It was her, and him, and that moment. Fuck Albert Schweitzer. He could kiss his ass. Happiness wasreal. ~ J.M. Darhower

Yeah, love is when you always want to be with the person," Lisa said, " you want to go everywhere they go and do everything they do. You'd follow them anywhere"
"That's not love, Lisa," Carmine said, "That's called stalking. ~ J.M. Darhower

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 18-something-or-nother. The year doesn't matter.They considered it the turning point of the war, and President Lincoln showed up to give his big speech. Who really cares what it was called? I don't. After it was all over and the North won, Congress passed the 13th amendment to free the slaves. It outlawed owning another person, yada, yada, yada, but it was a waste of time. All of it. Every bit. Completely pointless. All those people died and it didn't change anything, because it doesn't work if they don't enforce it. They just ignore it, turn their backs and say it's not their problem, but it is. It's everyone's problem. They can say slavery ended all they want, but that doesn't make it true. People lie. They'll tell you what they think you wanna hear, and you'll believe it. Whatever makes you feel better about your dismal little lives. So, whatever. Go on being naive. Believe what the history book tells you if you want. Believe what Mrs. Anderson wants me to tell you about it. Believe the land of the free, blah, blah, blah, star spangled banner bullshit. Believe there aren't any slaves anymore just because a tall guy in a big ass top hat and a bunch of politicians said so. But I won't believe it, because if I do too, we'll all fucking be wrong, and someone has to be right." -Carmine DeMarco ~ J.M. Darhower

Maybe love made you kiss all messy. Maybe love made you hungry for faces. ~ J.M. Darhower

We waste too much time looking for the next thing and not appreciating what we have right now ... and right now, what we have, is endless opportunities. ~ J.M. Darhower

He ran the back of his fingers along her flushed cheek. His touch was soft, and she leaned her head in his direction. "My beautiful girl," he said.
She took in his expression. "You think I'm beautiful?"
"I don't think you're beautiful, Haven," he said. "I know you are. ~ J.M. Darhower

It's torture, what he's doing. I can't see. I don't know. But his mouth is fully on me now, tongue doing whatever it does, flicking and licking, sucking and fucking, completely devouring me, like he's starving. ~ J.M. Darhower

I know how you feel, but it's just a fact of life. The sky is blue, dinosaurs are big, boy bands are terrible, and Avery doesn't belong to us. She never did. ~ J.M. Darhower

He might have taken my life but he did not break my spirit. No one did and no one ever will. Don't let them break you. Don't let them win. You fight the fight. It's the only way to be free ~ J.M. Darhower

Haven, I could never love someone like you, because there isn't anyone like you", he said. "You're one of a kind. ~ J.M. Darhower

I want to push you to your limits, Karissa. Push you so hard, so far, that you hate me for it. ~ J.M. Darhower

You speak Italian?" I ask.
"Some," he says, leaning down like he's going to kiss me, but instead he runs his nose along my jawline. "Why? You want me to talk dirty to you?"
"I, uh..." He's got me flustered as he grabs my hip, pulling me even closer. I shiver, feeling his warm breath on my skin. It's like he's breathing me in. "Well, I didn't, but I kind of do now."
He laughs. "Let's go upstairs, and I'll teach you all the dirty words you want."
I hum, tilting my head as his lips trace along my cheek. "All of them?"
His breath is against my ear as he whispers, "Every single one. ~ J.M. Darhower

Sorry, hippie, I didn't get you anything."
Hannah shook her head. "I don't know why you insist on calling me that."
"Sorry, hippie, I didn't get you anything."
Hannah shook her head. "I don't know why you insist on calling me that."
"You do the hippie stuff, like play with nature and gaze at the cosmos. If you were mortal, you'd totally smoke reefer and sing 'Kumbaya' with your stoner friends. ~ J.M. Darhower

I'll give her anything.
I'll tear my fucking chest open with my bare hands, rip out my heart and hand it to her, if that's what she needs.
All she has to do is tell me.
All she has to do is ask. ~ J.M. Darhower

I thought I would never experience
a moment more satisfying than last night,
but wow ... these pancakes. Best ever."
"I'm not sure whether to be flattered or offended. ~ J.M. Darhower

Vincent doesn't like seeing Maura upset, and well, it's hard for her not to be upset when I'm around." "Can't say I'm surprised," Vito said. "She's Vincent's weakness. If he doesn't learn to control that, he'll get her killed." "Antonio says it's the other way around." "I don't often disagree with the Boss, but nah ... her blood will be on Vincent's hands someday. ~ J.M. Darhower

I'm starting to understand what everyone says about you."
"And what, pray tell, do they say? Don't leave me in suspense here."
"That there's something seriously wrong with you."
"Oh, well, I could've told you that. There's a lot wrong with me. ~ J.M. Darhower

Whenever I close my eyes, I see her. Scarlet. I see her smiling. I see her crying. I hear her laughter flowing through me, sending chills down my spine. The sound of her moaning creeps through my bloodstream, the face she makes in the throes of passion the pulse that spurs it on. Whatever this is I'm feeling, I want it to stop. I want it to go away. I want to stop fucking seeing her every time I blink. I want to stop fucking thinking about her every time I pause to take a deep breath. She's like an infection that's settling into my chest. I would rip out my own organs if I thought it might purge her from my system. ~ J.M. Darhower

Celia sighed. Her life may not have been her own, but her death was. She made a decision and saw it through. None of us can take that from her. None of us should. We should respect that, as hard as it may be. ~ J.M. Darhower

The monster is peeking through, peering at me from behind his mask. He wants to come out. He wants me to play with him. ~ J.M. Darhower

Another?" she asked, picking up the water to take another sip, this one to soothe the sting in her chest. "You said one drink." A sly smile curved his lips. "I like to keep them coming." "Is that right?" "Absolutely." He stood, leaning across the table, his lips near her ear. "Maybe you'll let me show you later." She ~ J.M. Darhower

I don't need much Haven, but I do need you. ~ J.M. Darhower

Ti amo, mia bella ragazza. Per sempre." "Sempre?" She asked. Cracking a smile, he brushed his finger softly across her lips. "Always and forever ~ J.M. Darhower

Don't act like you Galantes are all roses," he replied. "You've got more thorns than you do petals, princess." Princess ~ J.M. Darhower

Happiness is having your very first hickey, put there by a set of soft lips that speak the smoothest words that sound like music to your ears and whispers to your soul. ~ J.M. Darhower

He fucks me like he means it, like he needs it, like being inside of me is more important than anything inside of him, and every cell in my body calls out to him, craving more of it. ~ J.M. Darhower

After one last kiss, she stepped away, wrapping his jacket tightly around her. "I'm keeping the coat."
"Okay."
"I'm going to wear it to bed."
"Okay."
"With nothing on underneath it."
Winking, she slipped inside, leaving him on the porch with that mental image ringing through his head. ~ J.M. Darhower

I thought I could play with you a bit, and let you go, but once I had you, Karissa, I had to keep you. I couldn't walk away. ~ J.M. Darhower

You and I, we can be the best of friends, but don't expect to find your fairy tale under my roof. You got me? ~ J.M. Darhower

He's a child with a brand new toy, and I just hope he doesn't break me as soon as I'm out of the package. ~ J.M. Darhower

I have a word problem for you." "I'm listening" "If Naz forgoes sleep, and Karissa gets naked, how many orgasms can he give her before sun up? ~ J.M. Darhower

You're crying," he whispered. "You're fucking crying. ~ J.M. Darhower