Love's Bounty: A Captain Swan Story

Part 4/4

Emma and Killian didn't speak again until morning. Emma finished dressing and addressed him while loading her bag, her eyes not meeting his.

"We're leaving in 15 minutes. I've arranged for us to take a flight back to New York in a couple of hours. We'll leave the rental car at the airport."

Killian's brow furrowed. "I thought you didn't want to fly because you didn't want to check your gun and be without protection."

"I just want to get home as quickly as possible." She paused and then added, meeting his eyes for the first time. "Plus, I know you won't try anything."

She tried to move past him to go to the bathroom, but he gently encircled her elbow, turning her body toward him. "Please don't leave things like this between us, Emma."

Emma tore her elbow free from his grasp. "There is no us, Killian. Be ready to go in 15."

She then headed to the bathroom, as his eyes followed her.

...

Three hours later, they were seated in Coach. Killian was in the middle, Emma had an aisle seat, and an elderly woman sat by the window.

They were minutes away from taking off and Killian couldn't keep his eyes off of Emma. Something was wrong. She kept shifting in her seat, her face was pale, and she was gripping the armrest for dear life.

"Are you okay, love?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied sharply.

He shook his head, his gaze scanning her face. "No, you're not. You're afraid of flying, aren't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

He nodded. "It makes sense now. This is the real reason you insisted on driving across country instead of flying. You're scared."

Emma bit at her bottom lip. "Killian, can you please just drop it?"

He responded by placing his hand over hers. She slowly lifted her eyes to his, but didn't remove her hand.

"Have you ever flown before?"

She swallowed hard. "Only once. I was 6. I had just joined a new foster family and they had already planned a vacation to Florida. They were sitting up in First Class and didn't want to pay for me to sit up with them."

Killian's brow wrinkled in concern. "So they left you by yourself back in Coach?"

Emma nodded. "They never even checked on me during the flight. About halfway through, we experienced terrible turbulence. I was all by myself. I was so scared. I thought I was going to die. We eventually had to make an emergency landing."

Killian moved his hand so that their fingers linked and he squeezed it comfortingly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that alone, Emma." He paused and then added. "But you're not alone anymore."

Emma could feel herself getting lost in his eyes and the soothing tone of his voice. She quickly shook her head and freed her hand from his.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Killian sighed heavily. A moment later, the plane began taxiing down the runway. He saw Emma take a deep breath. As they lifted into the air, she closed her eyes and reached out to him, finding his hand and entwining them again.

He smiled and whispered, "It's okay, Emma."

She didn't reply, but squeezed his hand.

...

After they had settled in the air, Emma reluctantly pulled her hand away from him. Killian frowned at the loss of contact.

"Aren't you two just the cutest couple?" They heard a voice from their left.