EXTRACT FOR
Flash Point
(Author Unknown)

Chapter One



    I tossed my hair over my shoulder, and tugged at the hem of my dress. I took a deep breath, and reached out to press the door bell. The brass sign mounted above it read, Barry Sharp, Exotic Photography. The large bag felt heavy and awkward on my shoulder. Perhaps it was just my nerves. I had come to this very door twice before carrying it, and it had felt fine both times. I first met Barry, when I responded to his advert on the internet, for "Glamour and Nude models". At the first booking, I only posed for portraits, and then in several swimsuits and bikinis. He must have liked the results, because he booked me for a second time, after I had agreed to go topless. I had never done that before, and it had taken a lot of nerve for me to show up. To my surprise, once I got my top off, it was all quite easy. Barry was very professional and charming, and half way through the session, I amazed myself, by agreeing to go completely nude. Barry used digital cameras, and he was able to show me some of the shots right away, and I was amazed to see pictures of this seductive, naked centrefold. It was not me at all. It was all so daring and exciting, that before the end, I gave in to his urging and spread my legs for the camera. I had become a full-fledged "Adult" model.

    I heard the muffled sound of the door-bell, through the heavy wood of the door, and then footsteps. My heart beat faster, as I heard someone open the lock. The door opened a crack, and I saw the edge of Barry's face. He pulled the door open, when he saw-me, and he greeted me with a happy smile. "Jenny! I'm so glad to see-you. I was afraid that you had changed your mind at the last minute." He ushered me in with a hand on my back. He was very careful about touching, which was a good thing. I had talked to some models and they all had horror stories of photographers, even some female ones, who had wandering hands. Most of them told me that they tolerated some degree of fondling, from the better paying clients, although thankfully, they were actually quite rare. I went through his house and into the studio at back. It had large French windows which led into a beautiful walled garden. When the heavy, lightproof curtains were drawn back it provided great natural lighting during the day, as well as a good background for portraits. I paused at the doorway, when I saw the other woman. She was about the same build and height as I was, although she had a warm tan, unlike my pale complexion. I burned easily and mostly avoided the sun. Any exercise that I got was from the gym. I felt Barry standing close behind me, and I moved into the room.

    "Jenny, this is Amber, the model that I told you about. I hope that she meets with your approval," Barry said.

    I knew that this wasn't really a question, as he was the employer, and my only other option was to withdraw from the assignment entirely. I smiled and held out my hand to her. "Hi, I'm glad to meet you."

    Amber took my hand and smiled back. "Nice to meet you too. Barry has been raving about you all week after he recruited me for this project. I have to say that from what I can see, he wasn't exaggerating."

    I felt myself blushing. I never knew how to deal with compliments, and her reference to what we were supposed to do this evening, made it even more embarrassing. I mumbled something and lowered my head. I used the excuse of setting my bag down, over by the door of the dressing room, to avoid continuing that particular conversation. When I turned back, Barry was perched on a high metal stool that served, both as a posing prop, and a makeshift ladder for quick lighting and set adjustments. Amber, was sitting on a stack of cushions next to him.

    "Now, before we go any further, let me run through what I want to do today with both of you present, so that there are no misunderstandings. Then, if everything is all right, I will give you the model release forms to sign. Obviously, they had to be modified a little to properly cover this project." He put his hands on his knees and seemed to gather his thoughts. He turned to me. "Jenny, I have explained that I do some special photographic and video work on commission for several clients, and that these sessions involve much more than just nude or even open leg poses. After I had explained the terms, and you had time to think about it, you expressed an interest in participating. Is that right?"

    I shifted my feet nervously, but nodded my head.

    He continued. "These special clients want erotica, done with the highest artistic standards, exploring your sensuality, and your authentic reactions to a series of special situations. They don't want acting or scripted dialogue." He made eye contact with me, and seemed to be judging my response.

    I was getting more uncomfortable, hearing him spell it all out in person, and with Amber present, but I had determined to go ahead, before I arrived this evening, so I just smiled, and nodded again. He seemed determined to drag it on, so I said, "Yes, I know. They want to see me masturbate, hurt myself and then have another woman do S&M stuff on me."

    Barry allowed a flash of annoyance to escape, before he returned to his genial, almost scholarly tone. "That's reducing it to very crude terms. There's plenty, too bloody much, porn and plain badly shot shit out there. What my clients want is professional images, of a quality to match Vogue, but with an unmatched level of eroticism."

    Barry could get pretty crude, when he was annoyed or excited. However, the fee he was offering, compensated for a lot of eccentricity. It was ten times more, than what a top porn actress could hope to get for a video, and he had promised, that the photos and video, would not be for general commercial distribution.

    On the other hand, there was the pain. I was not into S&M, and had never been spanked or whipped. However, I knew from experience that I had a high pain threshold, and I was by nature, what my friends politely called, determined - by which they meant stubborn. If I was an animal, I would have been the kind that chewed off their own foot to get out of a trap.

    Barry noticed my lack of attention, and cleared his throat. He nodded when he was certain that I was listening, and said, "The important thing to keep in mind, is that you must maintain a graceful, and attractive pose at all times. No grunting and scrunching up. No grimacing, or funny faces, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. Do you think you can manage that?"

    I rubbed my hands nervously on my thighs, and bit my lip. In my mind, I had a whole list of limits and conditions, but realistically, I knew that I could either agree, or pick up my bag and go home. "Yes. I can do it. But I can't guarantee, that I will get it right the first time, every time. And you need to let me know, when you're going to hurt me. No ad libbing."

    He nodded happily. "Fair enough. Your attitude is one of the things, that I like about you. The time you spent in the US, must have given you a more cosmopolitan view of life."

    I snorted inn amusement. I had spent most of the first fifteen years of my life in America, and only returned to London, when my parents had split up. I grew up in a very conservative, mid-western town, where my father had taught, in the local college. The wildest thing we ever did, was make out on a blanket, on the back of a pickup truck parked on the hill, just outside of town. It was after I got back to London that I learned that there was more to life. Still, I was never what you might call wild, and nude modelling was a leap into the dark for me.

    Barry went over to a desk, and came back with a pen, and two sets of stapled paper. He handed them to us and said, "Amber already knows what I require of her, so here are the release forms. Please note section three. I have included sexual release, as well as, consent to, and waiver of, physical injury clauses. I know that such clauses are not legally binding, but your payment terms are tied to them. If you contest section three, you're obliged to return any money paid to you, for services performed under those clauses. Before each scene of the video, both of you will read out loud, a description of the scene, and confirm that you are participating with full knowledge and consent."

    I suppose I should have read every line carefully, but if something went wrong, or if the video turned up on YouTube, suing Barry, would be the least of my concerns. Grabbing the pen, I scrawled my signature on both copies.

    Barry signed them, and returned a copy to me. When Amber had done the same, he slapped his hands together, and said, "Right. Does anyone want a drink, or want to go to the loo, before we start work?"

    I took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge, before picking up my bag, and going into the dressing-room. Normally, there would be a make up artist in attendance, but we had all agreed, that the less people present for this particular shoot, the better. 

    Barry had already set up his cameras, and lights before hand, so he did the make-up for us. He was surprisingly good, and both of us were quickly done.

    My hair was quite long, hanging just below my shoulders, and I fastened a barrette at the back to help keep it more controllable while he rummaged through my bag, and picked a simple black bra and g-string, to go with the fashionable, tweed coat-dress and broad leather belt, that he had supplied for the shoot. 

    He looked me over and frowned. "I'm not sure about that pendant. Why don't you take it off," he said.

    I touched the cylindrical pendant, which was silver and engraved with vaguely Celtic looking patterns. "I'd rather keep it on if you don't mind. Its kind of a religious thing. Anyway, it matches my underwear and the dress," I said.

    Barry tilted his head and rubbed his chin, then shrugged. "Fine, keep it on if it makes you feel better," he said and handed me the dress.

    I glanced at the label of the dress and whistled. His clients must have been paying him well, if he could afford a designer dress like this-one. He had also provided a pair of black and silver high heeled shoes, and these looked to be equally expensive. I shrugged, and started to take off my street clothes. Whatever happened today, I was going in style. Amber was naked by now, and was rubbing body lotion into her skin.

    When she noticed me watching, she grinned and said, "Barry wants me nude throughout the session."

    Looking at her, I could understand why. She had a fantastic body, although some would have said she was a bit over muscular to be a glamour model. She looked more like a professional tennis player or swimmer. She placed a foot up on the seat of her chair, so that she could cream her calf, and I noted that she was not shaved, although she was either naturally neat, or she trimmed her pubic hair. "What do you think of what we're doing?" I asked.

    She tilted her head and looked at me. "It's kinky stuff, but he's paying well and we're all consenting adults, right?" She paused for a moment and added, "You know that I'm going to hurt you later on. I hope there are no hard feelings." She held out her hand.

    I took it in mine and we shook. Under the slippery coating of lotion, I could feel the strength of her grip. "Have you done any S&M stuff before?" I asked.

    Her head shook from side to side. "No, I haven't," she replied. "Barry explained that since we weren't going to be doing any bondage, or stuff like breath play, I didn't need to be experienced. Apparently, he's into this sort of thing, so he can supervise whatever we do."

    "Breath play?" I asked, feeling a bit lost. My nervousness and the smell of stale perfumes, make up and sweat in the room were slightly overwhelming.

    "Yeah, that's where you get strangled, or have a plastic bag put over your head, just as you're about to come. It's supposed to make your orgasms really intense."

    "Couldn't that be dangerous?" I said.

    "Yes, that's why we're not doing it." Amber answered.

    I felt relieved that Barry at least seemed to be thinking about safety, especially, mine and not just about the money. I finished dressing and was giving my hair a final brush, when Barry tapped on the door. Show time. 



Chapter Two

    

    We walked out of the dressing room, and I thought that we made a strange pair. Me, in my designer clothes and shoes, and Amber, stark naked. We both looked out-of-place, as we passed through the maze and tangle of light stands, tripods, reflectors and wires. Although I wasn't an expert on things photographic, I saw that Barry had set up both photographic flash units, and video lighting, which bore labels like, Bowens and Interfit. From what I'd heard on TV, I expected the lights to be uncomfortably hot, but to my relief, I barely felt any anything as I passed in front of one of the video lights, with its pearly front panel and cluster of strange looking lighting elements which I realised were LEDs. I knew that my mind was dwelling on irrelevant details in order to avoid thinking about what I was going to do, and I forced myself to concentrate on the task at hand. Barry wouldn't be pleased if I looked like I was high on drugs or something. I took my place in front of the cameras, and waited for Barry to start. The floor of the set was vinyl, made to look like dark grey slate; and the backing was painted to look like the interior wall of a room, complete with wooden skirting board. This was a relief, as my high heels, would have been hell on Colorama paper, especially if I had to move around a lot.

    Barry put down his light meter, and came to stand in front of me. "Right. We'll start with a video interview." He waved at the three large Sony video cameras, which stared at me like black, unblinking one eyed robots from some old science fiction film. "Just you at first Jenny, then I'll introduce Amber. Answer the questions honestly, and only use your first name. Don't worry about saying the wrong thing, or coughs and such. I'll edit those out later. Now relax, and try not to frown or squint." He fiddled with my dress and hair, and looked at the three monitor screens, at the side of the set, each of which was linked to one of the video cameras. He pressed a remote control, and listened to the playback of his voice. Finally, he seemed satisfied and held up three fingers at me. "Get ready, we begin in 3, 2, 1," he said, and pressed the record button which activated all three cameras. "And for your viewing pleasure today, we have the lovely Jenny. Say hello Jenny!" He pointed at me to be sure I realised that this was my cue.

    I smiled at the camera, and said, "Hello everyone." It sounded lame to me, but I couldn't think of anything better.

    Barry nodded encouragingly and said, "Tell me Jenny, is it true, that you've never done any kind of video before?"

    I nodded. "That's right. I'm a photographic model, and this is the first video of any kind that I've ever done," I said. Barry signalled that he was zooming in for a headshot, so I took extra care with my expression, and tried not to let my eyes move about too much, maintaining eye contact with the camera.

    Barry's voice changed, sounding more serious. "But you do understand what this video is all about, don't you? We intend to explore your mind and body, in extreme and intimate detail."

    I gave the camera my best wide eyed look and smiled. "Yes, I'm going to let you see every bit of my naked body, and you're going to watch me experience extreme pleasure, and extreme pain."

    Barry looked pleased at this, and nodded. "Are you going to be acting?"

    I shook my head and said, "Not at all. Everything you see will be real. I haven't been given a script, and I've been told not to fake, or exaggerate any of my reactions."

    He leaned forward as he said, "I'm sure everyone wants to know, are you a masochist, or into S&M, in your private life?"

    I knew that this was important. I shook my head firmly and stared into the lens. "No, most definitely not. I hate pain."

    "Then why are you doing this?" asked Barry.

    He wanted the truth, so I replied, "For the money. I'm being paid very well to do it."

    Barry said, "Does that make you a prostitute?"

    I felt myself blushing. "No. I'm a model. I don't sell sex. Everyone who works, basically sells theirself for money. That doesn't make them prostitutes."

    He signalled to Amber. "We have another girl here today to help Jenny. Amber, come and stand next to Jenny. As you can see, Amber is already naked."

    Amber stood next to me and waved at the camera, looking totally unconcerned about her nudity. "Hi, I'm Amber," she said.

    Barry turned back to me. "Jenny, are you a lesbian, or even like sex with girls?"

    My face heated up even more. "I'm not a lesbian. I've never been with another woman," I said. "And before you ask, yes, I'm willing to do things with her for this video," I added.

    Barry grinned and held up a thumb. "Well, you've met our stars. We'll be back in a moment to start the action." He paused for two seconds and then pressed the button to stop the cameras. "That was great, both of you. Now I'm going to change to the flash units and take some pictures, while Jenny is fully dressed."

    Barry changed the lights, and picked up his digital Nikon. He took pictures of me in my dress, and a variety of portrait shots both in colour and monochrome. He showed me some of the results on the LCD of the camera as he worked, and they looked very high fashion. They would not have been out of place on any glossy women's magazine cover. Then he did the same for Amber, although of course, in her case, they were nudes. Most of the shots were very artistic, with strong light and shadow, showing off the shape of Amber's firm body, although she wasn't shy about letting the camera see her pussy.

    We took a break after the photo shoot. Amber made us some tea, and we sat in the dressing room chatting, while Barry set up for the next part.

    "Are you nervous?" Amber asked.

    "Not about this. But just being a model is frightening enough these days," I said.

    Amber's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean those murders they're talking about on the telly."

    "That's right," I said. "I mean, four models murdered in a month, is pretty scary."

    She shrugged. "The police haven't actually said that the killer is going after models. He could be just picking good looking girls as his victims."

    "I suppose so," I said doubtfully. "Some newspapers think the murderer may be a photographer, or someone working in an agency."

    Amber smiled. "Well, I'll watch your back, if you'll watch mine."

    I smiled and held out my hand. "Deal," I said, and we shook.

    Barry knocked on the door and I stood up and said, "Well, here goes."

    The video lights were back on and Barry stood expectantly behind the main video camera.

    My tummy rolled nervously as we made our way back to the set. Amber was in front of me and I stared at her tight, rolling buttocks as she walked. I had really never even considered sex with another girl, and Barry knew that I was frightened and even a little repulsed by the idea. I worried that I might throw up if he made me lick her pussy or, god forbid, her anus.

    Somehow, Amber must have sensed my attention. She turned to look over her shoulder and grinned when she saw the direction of my glance. "Don't worry, I taste nice," she said, guessing my thoughts. She twitched her hips and gave a soft, tinkling laugh of delight at my expression.

    I took my place on the set, and through the glare of the lights, saw Amber give me a wave of encouragement.

    Barry handed me a sheet of paper and said, "For this scene, you strip off, and we explore you body. This will be pretty much like a magazine style shoot, except that I'll be making comments and asking you questions, as well as giving you instructions. Now when I give you the sign, look into the lens and read the statement. This is for the record only, so don't worry about how you look."

    I did as I was instructed and read the paper, which basically stated that I knew what was going to happen and that I consented to everything. When I was done, Barry took back the paper, and I struck a pose as he prepared to begin the filming of the actual scene.

    Barry brought his hand down, signalling the start of recording. "And we're back! Jenny, you're a lovely girl, and I'm sure that everyone is just dying to see more of you. Why don't we start with that dress." As he spoke, he picked up his second camera, which was calibrated to shoot under the video lights. He nodded at me, as he brought the viewfinder up to his eye.