Acquiring the Taste — Interview with Shireen Clifford

An interview by Julie Holmes from Februs 3

A Julie Holmes interview for Februs

I met Shireen Clifford on my way to the Janus shop a couple of months ago. You remember those unpredictable heavy storms we kept having? Well, Shireen and I both dived into the same doorway in Dean Street just as the heavens opened up. We did the usual British bit of gazing steadfastly skywards but eventually I felt compelled to break the awkward silence. I meant to say something about the rain letting up soon or how I intended to make a dash for it, but instead I nodded towards a card by the entry-phone and said, ‘I wonder if the weather affects trade?’

The coded message described a delinquent blonde needing correction and I instantly regretted drawing attention to it. Suppose my companion did not speak English? What if she was a member of the Clean Up Soho Campaign? What if…?

‘I wonder what it’s like to be paid for it?’ was how she actually responded. ‘Perhaps I should start charging.’

Well, to cut a long story short, she turned out to be quite experienced in some c.p. activities, yet at the same time a little naive, so when the rain eased off I invited her to accompany me to the shop and then to do this interview… Afterwards I asked Shireen if she and her boyfriend would consider posing for some photos to accompany the interview. To my surprise she said ‘yes’.

JH: So what did you make of the emporium?

SC: It was fascinating! I never knew such places existed or that there were special magazines on the subject. I mean, I knew people did it of course but — and this sounds really corny — until you took me there I really thought I was the only person who enjoyed it.

JH: So tell me how you first realised you liked it — and what exactly is ‘it’, by the way?

SC: Well, I like lots of different things — it depends on my mood and who I’m with, I suppose. Sometimes it’s just a straightforward hand-spanking on my bottom, other times it’s a strap or riding crop that gets used. I think the most severe implement I’ve experienced was a birch — I wasn’t keen on that, but you never know, with someone else it might be different. I don’t like a lot of role-playing, but, again, it depends on my mood and the company; I’ll have to go back to the shop for some new ideas! Oh, sorry, you wanted to know how I got started. Well, I was going out with a man from work. He was only in his early thirties, but it was enough of an age-gap at that time to be significant — I was about twenty then. He seemed highly sophisticated and I liked the places he took me to, but he was very distant. On about our sixth or seventh date he finally invited me back to his place and I assumed we were about to become more intimately involved.

JH: But you didn’t?

SC: Well, yes we did, but not in the way I had expected. First of all, he poured himself a brandy but didn’t offer me anything. He left me standing while he sat on the sofa and told me that if I wanted to become one of his special girlfriends I would have to agree to do certain things with him.

Now, young as I was, I was no virgin and felt quite confident about matching most men in terms of sexual repertoire, so I wasn’t too bothered and said that was fine with me. He spoke very gravely and said he would test me out — if the night was not a success we would call a halt to our relationship; if it was satisfactory, we could continue until one of us decided otherwise.

JH: And you still thought he meant straight sex?

SC: Well, something conventional anyway. He told me to go into the bedroom and put on the dress I would find, then to return and sit on the stool he would place in front of the window. Well, there was this twee little pink number waiting for me on the bed so I changed and went back to the lounge. There was no sign of Piers, but the stool was where he said it would be and next to it was an umbrella stand with lots of canes and things in it. When he came back he told me he rarely wanted to go to bed with girls, but he did enjoy disciplining them: if I was prepared to go along with him and be discreet, we could have some good times.

JH: That’s exactly what he said?

SC: Oh yes, very dispassionately. It was good in a way, because he made everything sound totally normal and reasonable. I felt safe — and very curious — so I agreed to try whatever he wanted as long as we could stop if I felt uncomfortable about anything.

JH: And he agreed?

SC: Yes. He’s never coerced me into anything I don’t want to do. I suppose that’s why we’ve been together for nearly five years: he knows I’ll consider most things and he doesn’t pressurise me if I say no.

JH: So go on telling me about the first time.

SC: Right. Well, he said it was important I knew exactly what I was getting into and that my initiation was therefore going to be quite severe, though not as harsh as I might expect in the future if we decided to carry on seeing each other. He was very stern and told me to stand with my hands on the stool and with my bottom jutting out. He selected a riding crop and brought it down on my behind three times very quickly; I remember I’d barely recognised the pain from the first stroke before the third was delivered and he ordered me to take off my knickers — undergarments was the actual word he used. I was trembling from shock but I did as I was told. For all the pain that was shooting through my nether parts, my curiosity was aroused. He brought that crop down six more times on my bare bottom and even though it was excruciating, even though I was scared, I knew that this was exactly what I had always wanted.

JH: Why were you scared?

SC: Oh, lots of reasons. Not scared of Piers, I trusted him, I didn’t think he was going to harm me. But I was afraid of the intensity of my feelings; I was scared of the situation and the ease with which I’d been seduced into it. I was worried about how far I would want to go.

JH: So after just a few cuts from a riding crop you were hooked?

SC: Yes. Crazy isn’t it? As soon as I’d taken off my panties and bent over the stool again I knew that this was to become a major factor in my life.

JH: And has it?

SC: Definitely! Piers was amazed at my enthusiasm. That first evening I couldn’t stop asking him questions, getting him to demonstrate his ‘toys’ to me. I sat naked on his lap while he described the many types of erotic pain I would learn to crave. Even after all this time, thinking of our first time together makes me shiver with excitement.

JH: Is there anything you really don’t like but that you go along with to please Piers?

SC: I don’t think so. Well, I don’t like taking the cane very much. He has a collection in different lengths and thicknesses and I find them all extremely painful and difficult to accept if I’m not restrained in some way. I want to take it to please him and for my own self-esteem, but after just a couple of strokes I’m leaping about all over the place begging him to use something else. The first time I tried it, Piers had told me to choose any implement I fancied and I picked this really swishy cane. I was dressed in just black briefs and high-heeled shoes and felt frivolous. I made a great show of flexing the cane and boasting about how many strokes I wanted and then he took it from me and made me just listen to it whistle through the air a couple of times. After he’d delivered three or four strokes my briefs were in tatters and I was in tears. Piers said there was no point in going on with it and took me naked over his knee and finished me off with his hand. After the bite of the cane, it was almost like being stroked! We’ve used the cane a few times since, but I still can’t take much of it and we generally switch to a tawse or his hand after half a dozen or so strokes.

JH: What’s an average punishment?

SC: We don’t call them punishments. They’re more like a reward, a treat. And we have a lot of fun. He has this sign saying Silence: Caning in Progress that he puts on the door sometimes. And we play games to decide what he’s going to use and which position I’m to be in. I suppose you mean how many strokes or spanks do I get? Well, it varies. We have been known to spend all weekend indulging ourselves and I’ve just lost count of what I’ve had; other times it’s been a quick ten from his belt while we’ve been getting ready to go out. We try to leave enough time between sessions for any marks to fade and the odd cut to heal. It’s impossible to describe an ‘average’ occasion because there’s no such thing, except it’s always me that takes the spanking: I’ve only dealt with him once and it was a total flop, it just didn’t feel right.

JH: I realise this might be a difficult question to answer truthfully because I assume you will show this article to Piers when it’s published. If you don’t want us to print your response we won’t, but earlier you mentioned that how much you take depends on your mood and who you are with. Does that mean Piers is not your only partner?

SC: It’s okay: there’s no problem. Piers knows I see other men. As I’ve said, he’s not particularly interested in traditional sex but I am. I don’t think he sees anybody else these days but I have a few boyfriends I see now and then and sometimes we also indulge in spanking activities, although when I’m with them it isn’t our main interest. I hope I don’t sound promiscuous; I think I’m just lucky to have found out what I like and to know people who indulge me.

JH: Is there anything you have not done yet with Piers (or anyone else) that you would like to try?

SC: I don’t think so… unless, yes, actually there is. I’d like to have another woman present, not a friend or someone I’d have to see again — I suppose a ‘professional girl’ like that one in Dean Street would be best. I’d like to have a competition to see which of us could take the most from Piers: it might encourage me not to be so feeble about taking the cane — or even the birch — because I hate the thought of someone else giving him more pleasure than me. I might suggest it to him.

JH: And if it happens, would you be prepared to tell me about it so we can publish your account in Februs?

SC: You bet! In fact, you could be there to ensure Piers treats us both equally; perhaps you could take photographs. That would definitely give me an incentive to win. What do you think?

JH: Sounds good to me. Get in touch when you’ve fixed the time and place and I’ll bring along my camera.