This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder than Expected (A Futa LitRPG)

5.43 - Interlude - Beneath

"Faction?" Sol blurted out. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just—curious."

Honesty, at least in some regards, might be Sol's best way out of this. She didn't have ulterior motivations behind trailing after Lucinda; it had been purely a desire to learn more about someone she perceived as interesting.

Unfortunately, Lucinda had her own ideas why Sol had followed. In retrospect, Sol couldn't say she was surprised. Of course a woman of this strength—though exactly what her strength was, she didn't know—would have enemies, people working against her.

The difficulty of Sol's situation, then, would be convincing the woman she really was some unentangled stranger. Not her enemy.

"You were curious," Lucinda said. "Am I supposed to believe that?" Bored brown eyes flicked up and down Sol's body as she squirmed in place. The violence had passed just as abruptly as it had come: now, Lucinda simply kept her pinned. Not gently, since it was still very much with a firm hold around her neck, but considering the enormous strength that laid behind Lucinda's grip, 'gentle' by some frame of reference. She was clearly tying not to break her.

Then, with Sol's heart still slamming, adrenaline coursing through her, and pinned into the wall by a woman who oozed danger, her face close enough that Sol could make out the specks in her irises, something inside her stirred. An emotion.

One that was completely inappropriate, considering the circumstances.

Maybe it was her brain confusing signals. The intensity of the situation, her slamming heartbeat mistakenly being interpreted as excitement of some other kind. An excitement that Sol had been exploring constantly in her recent adventures.

Maybe it wasn't even that odd. Lucinda was a beautiful woman—if unconventionally, as an older adventurer, scarred, and with features hard as steel.

Likely, it was both of those excitements at once, working in tandem: Lucinda's intense eyes locked to her own, her body pressing into her, and also the danger Sol was in—the threat of being held by the neck by a woman who could probably tear metal with her bare hands.

Whatever it was, heat rushed through her. Her body reacted, and she paled as she realized what was happening, pants quickly growing strained as her terrified excitement confused itself for arousal.

Maybe it had been a bad idea to enjoy Zoey's growth potion in casual use. If she hadn't taken it earlier, then at least there wouldn't have been any physical clues to give Sol's thoughts away.

Sol knew that with how tightly Lucinda was pressing into her—trying to intimidate her, which was working, but also having another effect—that the stiffening between her legs wouldn't go unnoticed. So she needed to distract her. Or distract herself, maybe.

"I-I saw you in the inn," Sol said, the words tumbling out of her—now from embarrassment as much as adrenaline. "You're obviously someone important. So I followed you. I'm sorry—I really shouldn't have. But it was just curiosity. Genuinely. I don't know who you are. Or what you mean by 'factions'."

Lucinda observed her. Sol could tell the excuse hadn't done much to convince her. She opened her mouth to reply—

Then paused.

Oh, no.

She'd noticed. How couldn't she, considering Sol's size, and how close the two of them were?

The woman's brow furrowed. She looked down between their bodies, confused at the stiffness poking into her.

Sol panicked. What was she even supposed to say? To excuse this?