Poughkeepsie Quotes & Sayings

What he had wanted the most as a child was a family, a family that treated him like a person and respected his space, his body, and his place in the world. He was never held with love until Mrs. D, who came along so many years into his childhood that he was almost out of it — Debra Anastasia

No one has really seen me in years." Blake looked at the sky. "Sometimes I wonder how they know I don't have a home. I try to dress decently." He waved a hand at his jeans and army jacket. "I think it just seeps out of me. I'm not the same as everyone else." He shook his head, pulling himself out of his despair, and looked at Livia again. "But when you saw me for the first time, you actually saw me. You saw me, and then you smiled like I was just the same as everyone else on that platform. — Debra Anastasia

Livia held her spatula as Blake whispered in her ear. "I see us just like this a hundred years from now, old and deaf. I'll be the luckiest man."
Emotion caught her - this was all she wanted. Simple, beautiful frittata moments with this man.
"Someday, Livia, I'll be man enough to buy the food," he continued. "I'll give you an oven. I'll try so hard. — Debra Anastasia

No, numb nuts. I've just learned some shit these last few years while I was away. You give people a little respect, and they rise up to meet you. Not always, but sometimes. Don't mistake it for me going soft. I'll just as soon pound someone's asshole into their brain if they fucking deserve it. Do you all understand? — Debra Anastasia

She'd led her father to believe she was undecided in her profession when in actuality she quickly became one of Beckett's most trusted enforcers. — Debra Anastasia

Kyle whispered his name softly, like he was her air. — Debra Anastasia

It felt real, seeing his friend like that. It was like a gift. He wasn't into spiritual bullshit, but damn. Damn. That Mouse had become his friend was a gift, but a curse as well. If he'd left that whole situation alone, would Mouse - would James - have had a better life? A different outcome? — Debra Anastasia

Tell me I'm enough for you," he demanded. "Can you be with me even though I'm so wrong?" She was satin and warmth. The way she squeezed, he was desperate to move, pound, inject her.
She looked at him. "This is. You are. I can't do this any more if it's not with you. So please fuck me straight to hell. — Debra Anastasia

I heard he went home to Poughkeepsie and moved back in with his mom. — Francine Prose

Cole had never been good with physical affection until her. Now his heart burned with their closeness - so much bigger and better than lust was this love. — Debra Anastasia

I'm not leaving you. Right here, right now is the happiest I've ever been. I love you. That means I don't leave. Sorry. — Debra Anastasia

They kissed deeply, but she pushed him away when he started to get grabby. "No, seriously, let me get a shower. My vagina smells like a set of nuts."
"Awesome." Cole laughed. — Debra Anastasia

As Blake leaned down to accept her hug she whispered, "Remember when you and Livia tried to hog the spotlight at my wedding? Just when you and Livia get to the good part, Cole and I are going to have porno sex right there."
She pointed discreetly at the spot to Blake's right, and he couldn't help but laugh. — Debra Anastasia

She was losing it. Needing to harden, hating that she was out of control and sloppy, she punched the leather. He needed to apologize. He needed to stop the fucking car and kiss her. She had to slap him. Eve didn't realize how badly she'd been craving this man. — Debra Anastasia

Hey, monkey pussy, you might want to give those meat curtains a spit shine before you leave the house. — Debra Anastasia

Eve started in on his jeans, obviously knowing he was commando as usual by grasping his penis and pulling it free without hesitation.
She went down on him hard. It was like she was punishing her mouth for wanting him as much as she did. Driving the car while Eve expertly handled his stick made him feel so powerful, he wanted to head butt the windshield. — Debra Anastasia

If they'd caused you pain, I'd never have been able to live with myself," he said as he backed up a step.
"You might want to find another place to sit. Those idiots could cook up a plan for revenge."
"I can't leave." Green Eyes took a huge breath. "This is the only place where I get to see you." He looked like a man who'd just bet his entire fortune and laid his cards on the table. — Debra Anastasia

Beckett had a lot of layers. She used to hate herself for falling in love with him, but now she felt like she might be the only one qualified to do so. — Debra Anastasia

I love you in such a greedy way, I'm guilty
about it." She tilted her head back as he moved his lips to her throat.
"Guilty is for crimes. Always is for love. — Debra Anastasia

His touch felt so good it was almost pain. — Debra Anastasia

I'm never opposed to sexual favors as payment." He wrapped her ponytail around his fist, leaning close to her ear.
"I'm too exhausted to kick your ass. Drop my hair. You know better. — Debra Anastasia

So I'm sitting in that damn chair, ready to die, and I say to her, 'You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'm so damn glad you're going to kill me instead of some brainless, toothless druggie." Beckett smiled again at the memory of his almost-murder. "Then she traded the knife for her lips, and now she works for me." Beckett put his hands behind his head and flexed his giant biceps. "She won't tell me who hired her to come here. She's the deadliest person I've ever encountered. I still think she might kill me, but I can't stop looking at her. — Debra Anastasia

If you think I give a rat's ass about that cooler, you don't know me at all. Nothing I own is worth your pain."
Then, quietly, he took down one of his walls for her. "I know you. — Debra Anastasia

Oh my God! I'm engaged! I'm marrying Cole!"
"What?!" Livia squeezed her sister hard. "Let me see. When did this happen? Did you tell Dad? When is it going to be? How did he propose?"
The men stopped their congratulatory handshake to stare at the speed-talking ladies.
"Last night, not yet, four weeks from today, naked!" Kyle blurted in response
The girls became a moving, jumping circle of hug.
"Cole, you popped the question in your birthday suit?" Blake teased.
Cole put his face in his hands. "Did not think she would share that bit of information. — Debra Anastasia

Being a monster hasn't saved anyone. She choked on her sob, gasping for air.
He pulled her into his arms, and she finally let herself be hugged. — Debra Anastasia

This is how we thank assholes for messing with Poughkeepsie. — Debra Anastasia

Today, he was going to win the Big Humping Pussy award and go back to Poughkeepsie — Debra Anastasia

But if all this time between them had taught him anything, it was that they were orbiting the same fate. Together, always together, even when physically apart. — Debra Anastasia

She opened her eyes with a gasp. "I love you." He had tears running a path down his face. He nodded. "Back at ya, pretty child. So, so much. — Debra Anastasia

He'd rather she killed him than walked out on him. — Debra Anastasia

So you're the music note, Beckett's obviously the knife, who's the cross?" She stroked Blake's tattoo.
"You're about to find out. We're headed to church." Blake leaned in to kiss her forehead.
"Of course we are. That makes perfect sense." From hell to heaven. — Debra Anastasia

Hello, beautiful Livia," Blake answered.
"How did you know it was me?" Livia saw her wide smile in the rear view mirror.
"The phone looked sexier when it rang. — Debra Anastasia

He kept his head down in what seemed to be a prayer. He counts. You've smiled at him four hundred and forty-six times as of a few minutes ago. He announces the number every time I see him. — Debra Anastasia

Stop. Stop that. Tell me what happened to you." She gently ran her fingers down the length of his chest.
Blake shook his head. "My life outside of this train station won't touch you." His green eyes swam with pain and determination. — Debra Anastasia

If he lost her now, he'd not be able to live. He would drive off a cliff - maybe the same one the fucker who shot her did. And then he'd be able to spend his time in hell beating the fuck out of the man who'd hurt Eve. — Debra Anastasia

Doing good seemed barely worth it if he couldn't keep his own family safe. Maybe he'd gone soft after all. In his head, the only answer was murder and plenty of it. The old way. The way he knew. If he stacked enough dead bodies on top of one another, no one would see past them to find the ones he loved. — Debra Anastasia

Simple shit makes this chick crap bubbles and rainbows -Beckett — Debra Anastasia

Her smile was lighter fluid to his testosterone. He was full caveman for a few heartbeats. — Debra Anastasia

Time was a villain who couldn't be forgotten, but infamy would last forever. — Debra Anastasia

He treats himself like a weapon for your destiny. — Debra Anastasia

Ready?" he asked. He motioned for her to look to the sky.
She'd been on enough long walks with her father to know it was time to open her mind. Their times in nature usually held a secret surprise. It could be anything, really - a rainbow touching the snow or heart-shaped shade cast by a pair of trees. Anything. Today, the gift was being outside the second it started to snow.
"Ooh, Daddy! Look, it's like a salt shaker!" She stuck her tongue out for the newborn snowflakes.
Blake followed her lead. Snow tasted sweeter with Emme around. — Debra Anastasia

Outside, again?" She teased him.
"You know I love it best when you're wearing nothing but the stars."
Blake wrapped her in his arms and reclined on the grass. She pat his chest gently, loving the tap back from his heart and his white smile. He looked amazing cloaked in stars, too. — Debra Anastasia

The men toasted their bottles, as they did when Mouse was mentioned. The part of their tattoo that no longer existed. The man had died on the job, protecting Blake because he was loyal to Beckett.
"And ... " Cole shot Beckett a look.
"You're unofficially known as Sparkles and Jesus." Beckett squinted as Cole pretended to be offended.
"I think it's only fair if we give you a nickname, Blake?" Cole asked.
Blake stood and added a log to the fire. It'd been burning steady since right after dinner. Being with his brothers like this was Beckett's favorite. It his wildest dreams he never pictured getting to sit with them in a Blake's backyard. — Debra Anastasia

She watched with a crashing surge of pride as he reached up and pulled the mask off - he was in full sunlight. The orangey red light of the setting sun outlined him. Poughkeepsie's dusk set the mood. No matter how much Blake healed, Livia had a feeling nighttime would always be their favorite. He disappeared from view, but she knew he was strong. So much stronger so much sooner than she could ever have hoped. — Debra Anastasia

He felt a little less paranoid, and Cole was right - they weren't boys. They were men capable of taking care of their own. It came down to him wanting to do their dirty work for them. But they were good. They'd be fine. Instead he needed to work on getting the violence out of his system. It was his go-to drug. He actually couldn't think of a conflict he hadn't fought or killed his way out of. To stand in front of Eve again, he needed to handle himself differently. — Debra Anastasia

This was the version of her Blake she'd first met. They reconnected with the fire that had drawn them together and kept them together years later. For him, she would always burn. — Debra Anastasia

He felt no relief. He felt no closure. He knew then he would have to leave Poughkeepsie. He'd go very far away so he wouldn't be tempted to come back. — Debra Anastasia

Livia came close to kiss the baby's head and then Blake's lips. "Thank you."
"For burping him?" Blake leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
She shook her head. "For fighting for this. For us. Every day."
"It's an honor, Mrs. Hartt." Blake shifted back to his easy sway, keeping the baby locked in his slumber. — Debra Anastasia

Eve hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Careful. I'm fatal." He needed to remember that warning.
He whispered back, holding her hair so she couldn't squirm away, "Jesus. It's like you said that directly to my balls."
She laughed so hard at his unexpected reply. — Debra Anastasia

She had to kill him. She had to kill Beckett the next time she saw him or all she'd done to become an exquisite monster would be for nothing. — Debra Anastasia

Livia leaped into the Escort and drove straight to Poughkeepsie Station, letting instinct and her internal Blake GPS be her guide. — Debra Anastasia

Emme pulled on Cole's hand. "Why are they crying?"
Her uncle bent down. "Well, sometimes when all your dreams come true? The best you can do is cry. It's happy, not sad. — Debra Anastasia

It was like he'd just discovered fire, and she was the main ingredient. — Debra Anastasia

Where there's you, there's always gonna be me. As long as I breathe. — Debra Anastasia

I love you." She was almost angry. "Do you get it? You. These kids. This life. It is my world."
He nodded. She knew he felt the same way, but this Blake didn't talk, he proved. He found the spot on her body that made her see white and held her until she was desperate for more. Then he reached behind her and turned on the washer.
Dirty. Filthy for her. He kissed her and added tongue, bit her neck gently while the vibrations from the machine increased.
She would come for him like this. He pushed up her shirt and pulled down her panties so he could be inside her when she was lost in the ecstasy of it, of him.
He came right after she did, and she locked him close with her legs, dragging her nails down his back as he bit his lip to stay quiet.
He kissed the top of her head in between gasps for air. He looked in her eyes before responding, "I get it. — Debra Anastasia

Holy fucking dogs! You scared the uterus out of me! — Debra Anastasia

I promise you, Cole Bridge, that in honor of the little child you once were, I will never forget that JB is a gift from God. I will honor his unique, gorgeous person with enough love for both him and the memory of a little boy who deserved so much more than he got, for as long as I live and beyond."
She kissed his lips.
"Amen."
He held her close and kissed her hard, her tears salty on both of their lips. "You are so much. I have no words."
"I know," she said. "I feel that way about you too. — Debra Anastasia

Come with me." He led her to the beach again, but during dinner a few people had been busy. It was now lined with an aisle of candles. A man stood close to the breaking surf, hands crossed, waiting. Someone had used the surrounding sand as a canvas, creating a swirling pattern. Their names were part of the art.
What? She asked without a sound.
"I want you to marry me. Here. Now."
Beckett let go of her hand and strode away from her. When he turned around, close to the water at the end of the aisle, he hoped to hell she wasn't running in the other direction. — Debra Anastasia

We're going to find your hobo. We're going to work hard - work nights. Liv, we're going to put our balls into it." She hugged her tightly.
"When did we get balls?" Livia loved her ridiculous sister.
"Just now. — Debra Anastasia

Don't ever die in my head again. Please, never again, — Debra Anastasia

New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling. But there are other cities. Detroit. Poughkeepsie. New York City has been taken away from you. So my advice is: Find a new city. — Patti Smith

How she could walk out his door, that she was strong enough to break the connection his body was glued into, even when she wasn't there, had stunned him stupid. He'd always figured they'd drown together in the endlessness of their attraction. He loved her so much - it was like the devil himself was squeezing his heart. And she'd said she loved him ... Beckett Taylor #ReturntoPoughkeepsie — Debra Anastasia

She kissed his lips and felt his smile form. Alone in this beautiful space, Blake and Livia made things right. Blake kissed her slowly and patiently, like he had all the time in the world. — Debra Anastasia

Dear Lord, Please protect and guide Eve at her time of recovery. Life has given her a lot of emotional wounds, and now her physical body is mirroring this pain. Please take her hand and keep her safe. Let her live to lead a life that shows her the power of your love."
Together they added, "Amen."
Blake hated that it was all they could do right now. — Debra Anastasia

Go home, talk about it together. Bake Christmas cookies and crap. Then tell me what you want to happen. Know that I'm yours. My loyalty, my soul is yours no matter what you decide. Crap, you can shoot me in the back, and I'll never want anything but to be around you hookers."
Blake stood and shook his head. "Nah, I don't need time. I appreciate the place in Hawaii, and it would be great to go to - maybe for a vacation sometime? But I'm here. I'm not leaving you. You're my family. — Debra Anastasia

Impossible is just the shit nobody's tried yet," Beckett shot back. "My balls are way too big not to hope for the best. — Debra Anastasia

The handshake got a third arm as Blake entered and joined in. This was magic for Beckett, pure and simple. The world slowed down, and his cares melted away as he looked from face to face. He loved these men so fiercely, it'd probably scare them if they knew. — Debra Anastasia

Beckett's probably the hardest man there is to love," Blake said. "He does life wrong for all the right reasons. — Debra Anastasia

I promised in my head to leave you be. And when I saw you ... I was supposed to be man enough to turn you away. Fuck, I'm not a horny teenager. It's just you." He finally did stand. "You break me. You break everything I think I stand for. — Debra Anastasia

But Blake infused hope in his music. Love was the only song he knew how to play. — Debra Anastasia

His heart overflowed with good intentions but his fists felt best covered in blood. — Debra Anastasia

We better get over to Beckett's if you want to see how my day goes - before his crowd gets too raunchy." Blake stood up and held out his hand.
"It's eight thirty in the morning. How raunchy could they be?"
Livia wondered what, exactly, Beckett did for a living. Her question was soon answered. Everything bad. — Debra Anastasia

He gripped the edge of the desk. "I've done my best to make sure my brothers have no blood on their hands," he said with menacing quiet. "I'm going to hell for all three of us." Beckett said defiantly. — Debra Anastasia

His life was forever a chess game played on a roulette wheel. He'd had to take precise, informed, ball-dropping gambles to get where he'd been. — Debra Anastasia

What do you have there?"
Mouse perked up at her interest. "I'm making ski masks to have on hand for bank robberies. Last night I finished the fingerless mermaid gloves for Eve. She likes her fingers free for gunplay."
Mouse's needles clicked together in a peaceful rhythm. — Debra Anastasia

Livia called out, "Slutenstien! I'm home."

"I'm up here, cock dribble," Kyle replied. — Debra Anastasia

Don't pray to me. Don't pray to me!" Kyle said, alarmed. "We're in this together. I've done things wrong too. We're human, Cole. We'll still make mistakes, but now we'll always have each other to hold when it hurts." Kyle's eyes filled with tears. — Debra Anastasia

Nevertheless, he had offered her a home under his own roof, which Lavinia accepted with the alacrity of a woman who had spent the ten years of her married life in the town of Poughkeepsie. — Henry James

Is that shooting star just a happy accident or has the universe had it planned for a thousand years?"
He tilted his face to the sky, his eyes tracking an imaginary star as it screamed to earth. He looked back to her. "Either way, you can't stop it. You can beg it to slow down or you can just enjoy the show."
"Am I the star in this story or you?"
Blake wrinkled his nose and chuckled. "Was that a bad analogy? I meant we're the star, Livia. Us. This." He shrugged his shoulders like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Us being in the same atmosphere is either a great cosmic catastrophe or the most serendipitous rendezvous. — Debra Anastasia

I know it doesn't make noise," he explained. "Going through the motions is comforting to me. I wish I had a real piano." The wistfulness in his tone was aching to hear.
"Did it used to have keys on it?" Livia asked.
"I did draw them once, but it was in pencil. No matter. My heart knows right where they are." He watched her as he tickled the pretend keys again. — Debra Anastasia

She wanted to be physically punished now, and his hands were the safest place to become an object to be used. — Debra Anastasia

A very bouncy Kyle woke Livia at some ridiculous o'clock on Friday morning.
"Wakey-wakey, you sloppy, old whore. It's time to do you up. You're going out tonight, so you don't get to dress in nursing home casual." Kyle ripped off Livia's covers. — Debra Anastasia

Actually, orders coming from me usually have motherfucker attached to them. I just treated you like a tender great aunt. I'm not afraid of you, but I have respect, like I would for a twenty-three-foot alligator residing in the goddamn sewer. Nothing's killed you yet, and you've lived through a lot of shit. You want to be in my life? Then you'll have to contend with how big my balls are. Beckett sighed. — Debra Anastasia

As Joe raised a hand to acknowledge the wave of applause rising to greet him, he found himself struggling desperately to keep back tears. He had never let himself dream of standing in a place like this, surrounded by people like these. It startled him but at the same time it also filled him with gratitude, and as he stood at the front of the room that day acknowledging the applause, he felt a sudden surge of something unfamiliar - a sense of pride that was deeper and more heartfelt than any he had ever felt before. Now it was on to Poughkeepsie again, and then maybe even Berlin. Everything finally seemed to be starting to turn golden. — Daniel James Brown

How you want me, baby?"
She answered him by biting his forearm hard.
He spun her in his arms. When he went in for a kiss, she slapped his face.
"So that's how?" He put her hard against the wall, holding her by her throat. "You have to fight me? Cause I'm the toughest fucker you've ever met. Say it. — Debra Anastasia

I can't do this anymore if it's not with you. Fuck me straight to hell." ~Eve to Beckett — Debra Anastasia

Don't put off happiness you can have today. Tomorrow is a hope, not a promise — Debra Anastasia

How can it be wrong? Love picks the right path, not the one of least resistance. — Debra Anastasia

After soft kisses, they pressed their hands together palm to palm. The tingling scattered all over Livia's body, warming her.
"Do you feel that?" she whispered with a smile.
His lips moved in his silent count. Blake wrapped his fingers around her hand. She copied the movement. Their hands together now resembled a heart-not a cartoon rendering of the shape, but a real human heart.
He touched her lips with his and murmured, "I've been feeling it since you first smiled at me. — Debra Anastasia

Thank you for my accessories. This is over the top. And not practical." She hugged him around the waist and set her head on his chest.
"Fuck practical." He tilted her face to his. "I want to decorate you with diamonds. It's sort of like peeing on my tree, 'cept more expensive. — Debra Anastasia

Blake took her face in his hands. You let me touch you. Kiss you. Your skin? It feels like piano keys. My hands know just where to go. — Debra Anastasia

Blake Hartt, I choose you. I deserve you. I want you. Livia proved it by kissing his cold lips until they were warm. — Debra Anastasia

It's us that should be thanking you. Not a day goes by that Cole and I don't remember you've given your life for ours. Your heart is good. You are the man you seek to be. Never forget that. If it's getting rough, think of what you've already accomplished. Trusting you got Cole and me the lives of our dreams. — Debra Anastasia

When she was this wild, he was a monster for her. He bruised her, took her blows, and fought to give her the pleasure she made him earn. — Debra Anastasia

She picked up the phone and dialed Blake's number. His silky hello made her smile.
"You're smiling, right?" His voice was so intimate.
"Of course," she murmured. "Does it still count if you don't see it?"
"It counts when I feel it," he replied. — Debra Anastasia