As amazing as the hand kiss is, it's what happens before it that makes it all the more impactful.
This is all right after Donna gets her memories back and is reunited with the Doctor. Something so extraordinary and not considered by either just twenty four hours earlier.
Their relationship is only starting to be reforged. They're still joyous in being brought back together. Donna hasn't even processed all that's happened. That she's lived 15 years in some sort broken state, missing something she couldn't name and melancholy for reasons she didn't know. The Doctor has lived for over a thousand years and has been through many hells and back. And now they're together again and off on another adventure without even a moment to catch their breath.
And this wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be a fun little trip to see Wilf. But then the coffee was spilled and the TARDIS overreacts and it's gone and they're both scared.
And the Doctor looks at Donna like this. At Donna - his best friend and the person whose love influenced TWO of his faces. And he's looking at her like this:
The Oncoming Storm at war with himself to unleash on her. He's looked at her like that before: as Ten when she first appeared on the TARDIS and held Rose's jumper. And he's holding himself back from exploding at her for accidentally getting them in this perilous place. You know Ten WOULD let her have it. She'd give it right back at him, but he wouldn't be holding it it like Fourteen is. Because it's all so new. This is Donna, his Earthgirl whose tragic departure killed him. And yet he is so close to blaming her. To be fair, she did spill the coffee. But like the novelization points out: they know things happen and wasting time on placing blame is pointless (although he is just as much at fault, but not for reasons Donna points out...more on that in a bit).
I cannot help but think another reason the Doctor stops himself is because he just got Donna back. He doesn't have it in him to yell at her. He's still reveling in that she's in his life again.
And for Donna, this is too much. She gets overwhelmed and panics because she just got her memories back what six hours earlier?? and here is this Time Lord who is angry with her... I wouldn't be surprised if some of those past insecurities she had 15 years didn't resurface on top of her terror at never seeing her family again. She's scared of everything including him.
She holds her hand out in a protective gesture, trying to keep him away.
What makes the hand kiss all the more amazing is that he takes the hand she held to protect her from him and almost aggressively kisses it. As intense as his outraged glare was earlier, his display of comfort and affection is stronger. This is Donna, and she is terrified. He offered her that trip to see Wilf; he practically manipulated her into it because Donna Noble is back in his life and he wasn't ready to say good-bye again just yet. So yeah, she spilled the coffee, but he insisted she go with him. And he cannot have her scared of him. Of where they are, yes. But not of him. She has every right to be scared of him, after he wiped her mind 15 years earlier. And that is something he cannot abide. He needs to make this right and assure her.
And the best part of of it all is that stare. Those eyes boring into hers, telling her all she needs to know. He will fight for her, he will protect her, he will get her home, and he loves her. This wasn't want he'd dreamed of for a millennia: what reuniting with Donna Noble would be like, and he hates it too. But he will not blame her. He loves that she's at his side because she is what he needs, and he will do what he can to not let anything happen to her again. Yeah, the end of the episode is another thing to explore, but in this moment, he's unwavering in his commitment to never lose her again.
It's the perfect resolution to their argument. Lots is unsaid and conveyed through expressions and gestures. It's a reset of their relationship. They haven't had time to decompress from their reunion, but this isn't just the Doctor assuring Donna he'll get her back home. It's him telling her that he will do whatever he can to never let anything happen to her again.
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