She watched his thumb skim over her hand. “It’s embarrassing. Pathetic. What sort of grown woman is scared of flying?”

He grasped her chin with his other hand and lifted it to look into her eyes. “One of the best women I know.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and her stomach filled with butterflies dancing a samba. The way he was looking at her was so…well, she didn’t quite know what. The light in his eyes could have been admiration, or even adoration. But surely not. She was certain he desired her, but anything else was a different matter entirely.

“I care about you,” he continued, speaking quietly so as not to draw any attention, and it felt startlingly intimate. “You’re going to be the mother of my child. Most women would have panicked when they discovered they were pregnant, but you’ve been level-headed and brave. So what if you have a little fear of flying? You can hold my hand for as long as you like.”

Despite her gut telling her it was a very bad idea, Aria did hold his hand all the way to Auckland.

CHAPTER 20

Eli couldn’t believe it. The woman who had put him in his place more than once, and had fearlessly told him she was carrying his baby, was shaking in her seat. It boggled his mind, but the panic he saw was real, and it pleased him to be able to distract her for a time. With her big personality, it was easy to forget she wasn’t ten feet tall and invincible. Feeling her small hand inside his had kicked his protective instincts into gear, and he’d wanted to take her in his arms and make her forget her fear.

She was vulnerable; he liked that. The women he usually dated wouldn’t allow anyone to see their weaknesses. Instead, they hid them behind masks of cool civility.

When they got off the plane, Aria looked up at him with gratitude, and he felt positively heroic, the urge to flex his muscles and claim her as his own almost overwhelming. He wanted her. He’d wanted her from the moment he’d first seen her, but at that moment, he really wanted her. His fingernails bit into his palms as he stopped himself from reaching out to her; gathering her into his arms would be a mistake of epic proportions. She was soon to be a mother, which meant she was off-limits to him. When he finally settled down, he needed a woman who would be content without children—then his expected failure as a parent could never be tested. But still, Aria’s eyes, shining with emotion, and the knowledge of his baby growing inside of her sent a surge of possessiveness sweeping through him. Eli had never been a jealous lover, but he resolved that if any other man laid a hand on Aria, he would destroy them.