A Flame Divine ♕

XXII. B L A Z I N G

s t e l l a n

"Our furniture and stuff should be arriving soon," Stellan told Everly as they pulled up to their new apartment. They had just checked out of the hotel room that morning after spending the last few weeks there. It was bittersweet.

"I hope you don't mind... I called my brother. To help us move."

Everly unbuckled her seatbelt and uncrossed her legs. "You did? Do you know if he's bringing Carmen?"

He nodded. "Yes. I figured she could help us out with organizing too. Merrik will help me move the big stuff." He had to admit, although he and his brother were never close by any means, those last few weeks had been... different. In a good way. Something in Merrik had changed since that night, and they had had some good communication since then.

They walked up the stairs together and unlocked the door. The sun was shining through the windows, casting a warm glow throughout the empty room.

Stellan pulled Everly close, touching his nose to hers. He dipped down and captured her lips with his, grateful to have her all to himself for now.

She smiled and lifted her face to meet him, brushing her lips against his. "Mmm," she hummed into his mouth. She pushed him gently against the wall and put her hands on either side of his shoulders. "I am going to love living with you."

"Hmm," Stellan mused. "Can you just imagine how many places I can get you naked?" he whispered next to her ear before kissing it. His lips traveled down her jaw and her neck, hands roaming her hoodie-clad body.

She smiled as she leaned her head back and moved her hands to his chest, right above his beating heart. "Why don't we start right here?" She pulled her hoodie over her head and tossed it to the floor, leaving her in only her black spaghetti strap tank top, the straps falling off her shoulders.

Damn, that's hot. Stellan was tempted to say screw it and cancel his brother's help so that he could have alone time with his girl.

The moment before Stellan buried his face in her chest, the door creaked open, and a gasp was heard. Stellan whipped his head over Everly's shoulder to see Carmen with her hand covering her mouth and Merrik standing behind her.

Everly didn't turn around. She just looked at Stellan. "I really don't want to turn around right now, do I?"

Stellan was stuck between laughing and covering her body with his. He wanted to protect her, but her indignance was too cute.

He smirked and handed Everly her hoodie and turned to Merrik and Carmen. "Thanks for coming to help."

Everly pulled the hoodie on and kept the hood over her head, and he could tell she was being super overdramatic in an effort to be funny to cover her embarrassment. "Hey guys, thanks for coming over," she muttered, turning around and waving sheepishly. She leaned against Stellan, and he was shaking with laughter behind her. She lifted her bare foot behind her and kicked him playfully in the shin.

"Ow!" he cried, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, spinning around in circles.

"Put me down!" Everly squealed, playfully hitting him on the back with her little fists.

Stellan laughed and set her down, but not before giving her butt a playful smack. Turning to the others, he cleared his throat.

"Merrik, why don't you help me assemble the furniture while the girls start putting the smaller things away?" He checked his phone. "Oh, I just got an alert from IKEA... they should be here within the next few minutes."

"We'll go down and wait for them," Merrik said, and Everly grabbed Carmen and dragged her down the hall, giggling about the bathtub.

Stellan turned to his brother and cleared his throat. "Seriously. Thanks for coming to help. I know you're busy."