The title of the most recent photoset of mine to be published on Northern Spanking is a little ironic. I haven’t been in touch with the artist formerly known as Niki Flynn since she left the scene in 2009, although mutual friends assure me that she is well and happy. But when she was still Niki Flynn, it felt like we did become close friends. The NSI shoot in December the previous year was the first and only time we ever shot together, and looking at it brings back a whole load of memories.

This photoset explored one of the “grown-up” scenarios we both enjoy as a counterpoint to the endless (if still fun) schoolgirl scenes, and Niki was the perfect person for it. Elegant, graceful, a consummate professional, she was a pleasure to work with. Here’s the blurb:

Lifelong friends Niki and Pandora are enjoying a genteel afternoon tea together on a stormy afternoon, when Niki’s husband (Michael Stamp) arrives home with a face like thunder. His Saturday has been ruined due to Niki forgetting to renew his golf club membership. Imagine the embarrassment of being barred from the first tee at the Royal & Ancient.

Horror-struck, Niki is fully aware of what is about to happen; she will be taken to the bedroom, undressed and punished most severely.

Once the chastisement is well underway, Pandora cannot resist creeping up the stairs to listen more closely to her friend having her bottom smacked, just like when they were naughty little girls. The sounds have a powerful effect on Pandora, awakening long-forgotten desires of the dormitory and her fingers wander inevitably to her knickers, then inside.

It is when Pandora herself is drawn as if by electricity to enter the bedroom, to actually see Niki’s bottom bouncing and wriggling, spanked red from the crown of her pert buttocks to the tops of her black stockings. There is a caning to come and, caught, Pandora is told to fetch the implement and witness her friend being stripped and thrashed.

It is not long before Pandora herself is undressed to her pretty underwear, presenting her lovely bottom alongside that of her friend, to be adorned with stinging stripes. And afterward of course, Niki and Pandora discover the new level to their friendship that only humiliation, suffering and very sore bottoms can bring about.

The first few times I met the lady known as Niki Flynn I was somewhat in awe of her. Older than me, a published author, fiercely intelligent, the star of those notorious political Stalin films by Lupus Spanking, ever courteous but somewhat reserved in person. Over the years, Tom and I played a number of intense scenes with her and Cameron; at their house, in hotel rooms, even in my North London bedroom. One of the best things about playing with Niki was the way that her shyness would melt away after a scene, revealing a bubbly, extroverted, affectionate person who would happily chatter away late into the night, sharing stories and secrets. But even this wasn’t quite what it seemed. It’s not that play would strip away Niki’s shields, so much as the extrovert persona that emerged through CP play was a shield of sorts. There was a lot more to this extraordinary lady than I ever encountered. All of us have layers, different facets of ourselves that we bring out in different contexts. Niki’s private nature made her my opposite in some ways, but I had an awful lot of respect both for her privacy, and for her.

It makes me all the more grateful for the intimacies we did share, brief as they were. There are moments I will always remember. Niki giving me a lapdance during a slave-girl scene – and afterwards, taking me by the hand and cleverly, generously helping my shy, awkward self through a dance together, for the benefit of our watching owners. Her cradling my head in her lap as I was caned, and stroking my hair – and me returning the favour. Being schoolgirls together, reformatory inmates, a serving maid to her aristocratic niece. Watching Tom gently hold her foot as he caned the sole, and hearing her gasps of pain and pleasure.

Close Friends is, in some ways, closer to the truth than you might think. I may not have known her well, but the times I felt closest to her were always during or after we were punished together.