Tag Archives: Rain DeGrey

I Never quite Know

by Rich Moreland, August, 2015

The Mercy West story continues.

*          *          *

Mercy West Photo courtesy of Hardtied

Absolutely Wonderful
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

“It was wonderful. It was absolutely wonderful.”

A smiling Mercy West sits on a towel with sections of rope scattered on the floor around her (she was hogtied and suspended from the ceiling). Rope impressions on her ankles can’t hide the pleasure she’s just experienced from her kinks. Her butt sports a submissive’s thrill, cane marks. An orgasm went along with the show.

grunge girl poster

Titled “Grunge Girl,” the Hardtied shoot runs for about an hour and puts Mercy through her paces. It’s her first hardcore penetration scene in adult film. She is whipped, performs oral sex, and is vaginally penetrated (she doesn’t do anal at this point in her career). Her Dom is Jacky Hammer.

The producer of Mercy’s shoot is Intersec Interactive Inc. Located in Oakland, California, the parent company of Hardtied is run by Matt Williams who once worked for rival Kink.com across the bay.

For each of its five websites (the others are TopGirl, Infernal Restraints, Real Time Bondage, and Sexually Broken), Intersec uses the Kink model of pre and post shoot interviews to introduce the performer and ameliorate criticism from those who see bondage shoots as degrading and abusing to women.

A Bondage Disneyland?

Things are not what they seem to be when it comes to BDSM porn Photo courtesy of Intersece

Things are always not what they seem to be
Photo courtesy of Intersec

Here’s a little post-shoot info for those who need reassurance that Mercy has her wits about her and is cool with her experience. She spoke at length with me about it.

Everything went well, she says. “I really can’t think of too much that didn’t go how I wanted it to go. Working with Jack was really nice.”

Each time she’s gone to Intersec, excitement and a positive nervousness abound.

“It’s like taking a trip to Disneyland as much as it is a job like the others I do on a daily basis in adult. I really, really love working with them. The atmosphere in the studio is impeccable, everyone seems to get along. Everyone is respectful.”

Bondage porn is Mercy’s magic. “I’m working with the type of people that I’ve interacted with since I decided to put myself in the kink community.” But, she adds, “I’m always a little nervous because I never quite know exactly what’s in store.”

Shooting with Bella Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Shooting with Bella
Photo courtesy of Intersec

And that’s exciting because Mercy knows at Intersec she is watched over and respected. The studio’s directors–she’s fond of Jack Hammer and Bella Rossi, in particular–work within her personal limits, as is expected in the BDSM community. Jack’s shoot had a “pretty girl” theme and after she picked out an appropriate outfit, the stills were taken.

Instead of relying on “screen shots from the actual video,” companies like Intersec “take the time of take good ones,” Mercy says.

Artistic Still from Infernal Restraints Photo courtesy of Intesec

Erotic Art
Photo courtesy of Intesec

From her experience, some studios may break the action to take 35s or “have someone using photography equipment during the filming to capture moments” outside of the typical screen shot. The petite model compliments studios that focus on good stills because they tend to be artistic, thus “falling under the category of erotic art.” The best ones are “absolutely stunning” and can easily end up as website banners and adverts, she believes.

After a second thought, Mercy humorously back tracks. “I could be wrong and people could just be jerking off to them!”

That’s quite likely.

Nevertheless, she’s pleased with hers. They have “more of an artistic intent than purely pornographic one,” she concludes.

Now to the Details

Rain Degrey before one of her Intersec Shoots Photo courtesy of Intersec

Rain Degrey ready for an Intersec Shoot
Photo courtesy of Intersec

Mercy enjoys the travel that reconnects her with people in the business. When she goes to Oakland, bondage superstar Rain DeGrey, an Intersec recruiter and still active model, picks her up at the airport. Arriving this time for Hardtied, Mercy circulated as usual, carefully avoiding anyone who was busy. “There are always people running in and out” and if they have a moment or two they will “say hello and ask how I’ve been,” she says.

A few days before her arrival, Mercy phoned Jack “about limits and ideas and clothing,” what they would have done if they were negotiating a scene at a club.

It’s a process Mercy knows.

“I’m used to talking to the person I’m playing with before hand to get a feel for their personality and for what they’re looking for. I’d already met Jack twice, first on my Infernal Restraints shoot and again at my TopGirl shoot.” She is comfortable with him, she says, he is “a really diverse performer.” Incidentally, Mercy was careful to make sure he liked her outfit.

Jack at work. The outfit passed inspection! Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

The outfit passed inspection!
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Because the scene was her first boy/girl, Mercy’s nerves were like her body, tied up . . . but less than if she’d been shooting for another company. “I couldn’t have felt better about the whole situation.” Not surprising, the adrenaline was pumping. “It really is a drug,” she exclaims, that undoubtedly enhanced her pleasure.

“After the initial interview on camera, we started to work things out and I got into my first position.” As the shoot progressed, Mercy mentions she did not “have to be taken out too many times.” Models get safewords to use when issues arise because BDSM is hard on the body and brain. Some performers, especially those derisively referred to as “LA porn girls,” are not accustomed to the stresses of the fetish.

Mercy knows about the bondage scene; pornwise, she is not in it solely for the paycheck.

Rope bondage, especially strappado, and suspension can be uncomfortable if not rigged properly. Models must be aware of their bodies and even the best like Casey Calvert and the now retired Bobbi Starr would agree with Mercy that nothing should be “tingly” or “falling asleep.” Make sure “you have feeling everywhere,” Mercy says.

Rope Work Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Rope Work can create a tingly feeling
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Intersec is awareness personified. The director and crew monitor the set closely which makes our short-haired bondage babe feel safe. “We did three or four different sections and I was taken out at least two times in each tie just to give me a break and to last longer.”

Making sure Mercy isn't in a tie too long! Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Making sure Mercy is satisfied
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Though Mercy admits “there is a certain amount of performance” in her shoots, “being submissive” has its own particular pleasures. Unfortunately, there is the “subspace” issue which can be risky for some performers. “Sometimes you can get into that headspace and not be completely paying attention to your limbs and your digits.” In fact, Mercy believes “It is really easy to get lost in subspace and if you are actually into bondage and S&M, not just modeling or pretending to be into it, working with experienced kinksters just feels so comfortable.”

A Reality Check

Mercy does remember one surprise. A nylon stocking cap was put over her head. “I didn’t realize it until it happened and I was being walked out on stage. Of course, they had asked me and I agreed—I just didn’t think twice about it.” Next a “tape gag” was put around her mouth and “a tape blindfold over the nylon.”

Stocking cap and gag Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

Stocking cap and tape in the hands of Jack Hammer
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

“I had never been blindfolded and gagged at the same time,” she says and momentarily she felt like she was in over her head, as the old saying goes. Focusing on the sensation “a little too much, I stopped,” Mercy remembers, “shook my head a little bit to get myself straight. Jack grabbed onto me and made sure I was okay.”

‘“Are you all right? I got you. Is everything all right?’”

“I took a breather and he asked if I needed to be taken out of the gag and out of the blindfold. I just stood there and everything was fine. The moment I heard his voice, ready to do whatever I needed, I was immediately calmed down and sort of gave him the ‘let’s go forward.’ When they yelled action and everything went on as planned.”

Looking back, Mercy declares, “I needed a little reality check [which turned out] absolutely beautiful, I really needed that wonderful communication.”

The value of experience in the BDSM play scene is priceless and a lesson for everyone who doubts sane people engage in the fetish. Speaking of Intersec, Mercy says, “I feel like I am completely in control and that they are in control of themselves and aware of the situation.” Good news because her first on-film penetration, breaking her porn cherry as they say in the business, went really well.

*          *          *

Mercy West is not finished at Intersec because she wants to shoot for each of their sites. “They are totally attentive, extremely friendly and I just love working there. I can’t wait to go back. I would love, love, love to do Real Time Bondage. . . that would be one of the most intense things that I have ever done.”

Before the shoot Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Maybe Real Time Bondage is next?
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

What makes that site so special?

“They say it’s about four and a half hours straight of live streaming with tiny breaks in-between,” Mercy exclaims with delight.

Sounds good to her fans, they’ll be ready to watch this bondage slut take it all in.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Get Your Clothes and Go: Rain DeGrey, Part Three

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Rain DeGrey and I have run over our alloted time in the press room but I’m curious about one more topic. How are girls at Kink are chosen for shoots and is the process the same at Intersec?

Rain in the press room. Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse

Rain in the press room.
Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse

At both companies, models are hand-picked for specific shoots. “The director says to a talent booker, ‘I want that girl.’ The booker can offer a selection, but the director is the one that makes the final choice [because certain models will] flavor their content.”

Rain emphasizes that to direct for Kink, riggers must rank above their competitors professionally. “I have nothing but praise for anyone who becomes a Kink director because that’s the cream of the crop.”

Most rigger/directors don’t stay at the Armory for lengthy careers. Circumstances vary, professional visions evolve, personal lives change. But no matter, it’s the legacy that counts.

James Mogul.  Photo courtesy of Kink.com

James Mogul.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“Even if you cycle through the fact that you [were] on-screen means that you are bringing a level of skill that most people won’t even come close to approaching.”

Rain praises an all-star list of directors who choreographed her at Kink: Princess Donna, Lew Rubens, Lochai, Matt Williams, and James Mogul. “All of them [have] their own flavor. It is awe-inspiring what they can create and produce.”

In changing times and diminishing dollars, only James remains at the Armory out of that original group. The man is as much psychologist as rigger, Rain implies. “He is a genius, he is very intense, and you really need to be able to hang with what he is offering.”

Of course, good directors also have the privilege of good talent and Rain DeGrey is top of the line.

A Crush

Princess Donna. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Princess Donna.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

We turn to Princess Donna for a moment and Rain fills with energy. Her eyes light up and her gestures become more animated.

“Oh my god, she is insane!” Rains blurts out. “Wow, okay so I still have a crush on her. She is so charismatic and intense.”

Rain spins the tale of her first shoot with Donna, which incidentally was her first kinky porn scene for profit. She had just submitted her application.

Booked for Donna’s Wired Pussy site, Rain was nervous, explaining that she was “in the presence of someone” she admired so much that she was “shaking.” “I’m like tripping all over myself,” she says.

Sometimes first shoots can be daunting because eager to please overwhelms the atmosphere.

The scene called for a cattle prod with Rain on her hands and knees. Donna was firm about her expectations. “‘Now Rain, it is really simple. I’m going to hit you with this cattle prod and if you move, the shoot is over.'”

Rain was really nervous, after all cattle prods move huge beasts and she is much smaller than a 1500 pound animal. When the prod was applied, the newest Kink hopeful “lurched forward,” she remembers.

“Princess Donna was disgusted. ‘This is the level of talent they’re giving me! I can’t work with this! Get your clothes on and go.”

Run over by a truck she never saw, a confused and disappointed Rain retrieved her belongings. Kink was too demanding, this whole shooting idea was a disaster. “I had no idea I didn’t qualify to be a model,” she remembers thinking.

The Kink neophyte took two steps and was paralyzed by Donna’s commanding voice.

Donna gives the orders, Rain smiles. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Donna gives the orders, Rain smiles.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“‘Where do you think you’re going?”

“Donna grabbed the back of my hair, flung me to the ground, and surprised fisted me. I’ve never been fisted in my life and [suddenly] I’m a Muppet!” a beaming Rain recalls.

After the shoot went online, the fans loved the performance, complimenting Rain’s acting. “I wasn’t really acting,” she sheepishly confesses. “I thought Donna cancelled the shoot because I sucked as a model.”

From there, a career was launched.

Rain comments that PD is no longer with Kink, attributing the change to shifting winds in the porn business model. Donna’s shoots were getting “more hardcore,” she explains, suggesting that the Fifty Shades phenomenon has led Kink to tone down its product. Rain guesses they are “going for a softer, more marketable base.”

In other words, Donna has authentic standards that aren’t the sappy Hollywood fare of Fifty Shades. Her expectations reflect her personal level of performance as a bottom. “But most people can’t do what Princess Donna can do,” Rains says, and sites like Public Disgrace were getting too extreme even for Kink.com. “She wasn’t able to turn back her directing style because she is directing from her passion and her heart.”

Try Something Once

Before we wrap up, Rain has one more story, this time about her Public Disgrace appearance. Up until that time, she had done very few boy-girl scenes, but “you just don’t say ‘no’ to the Princess.”

The situation was somewhat bizarre because an unexpected psychological role reversal took over the room.

The bar scene. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

The bar scene.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain describes the scene. “I am completely naked in a bar full of strangers. They pour beer all over me, spit on me, and are dragging me by the hair into people’s faces.” As part of the shoot, Rain was required to ask everyone for their name.

She remembers that “every single person in that room was terrified of me. I would get up in someone’s face naked and covered in beer and spit and say, ‘Who are you?”

“I’m like, ‘Where is the disgracing? I own this room. My naked beer covered ass is terrorizing you!”

In other words, who was empowered in that bar? Who was in control?

Later Rain had anal intercourse on the pool table before PD “flipped” her on her back and fisted her and she “squirted all over” the felt surface. As an afterthought, Rain wondered what the pool playing patrons would think if they knew that twenty-four hours previously her porn body was sprawled all over that table!

The action on the pool table. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

The action on the pool table.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

As we close, Rain pauses to convey her philosophy of shooting adult film.

“You are only on this planet once and your body is the greatest toy that you well ever have and some people are afraid to play with it. I’d rather try something once and not like it than be on my deathbed and think of all the things I’d wish I had the courage to try.”

“I don’t live my life for anyone other than me. When you stop [worrying about] what other people think, [you have] absolute freedom. You only have a finite amount of time and I want to use the time I have [well].”

“That is why I am here today.”

*          *          *

Adult film is a potpourri of personalities and Rain DeGrey’s carries an amusing, and sometimes scalding, wit that fires a flurry of stories with the rapidity of a machine gun nest. When you think she is finished, she’s always has another round.

Below is the hilarious finish to her Public Disgrace shoot. It’s a behind the scenes look at the trip back to the Armory. I cleaned up the language where appropriate.

Oh, My Knee

Steve Holmes is an ethnic German born in Romania who performs frequently at Kink. He’s no youngster, having been in the adult business for almost thirty years.

According to Rain, Steve is “such a pervert” with a sex drive in overload. He’s a “swinger” who got into porn because “he wasn’t getting enough” at home. She relates a story about a clip he made that reveals his extraordinary ability.

In the scene, Steve’s got “this little eighteen year old girl and he’s going to do the pop shot on her face,” Rain says. “It’s like her first shoot and she dodges the pop.” Things are now fouled up from a production point of view, the ending is ruined. What to do?

“Most dudes when they’re fifty cum once and it’s go sit in a corner. Steve is like ‘no problem give me a moment.’ Fifteen seconds later he ejaculated, holding her little head so she couldn’t dodge it this time. He was like ‘come here you little cum dodger and whoosh!”

“This man is a genius, how can you not respect that?”

On the day of her Public Disgrace shoot, Steve was at the Armory. He had just finished a Sex and Submission shoot, Rain remembers. Meanwhile, Princess Donna’s cast and crew are preparing to depart for the bar in a company van.

Steve Holmes and friend ready for SexandSubmission. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Steve Holmes and friend ready for SexandSubmission.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain was ready to go, walking through the Armory “wearing two Band-Aids and a cork, five pounds of make up obviously off to [have sex],” she says. Steve “is hanging out in the lobby” and asks what is on her agenda.

“‘Nothing. Just off to do Public Disgrace.'”

“‘Oh great! Can I come?'”

Rain shrugs and comments that “Steve likes to relax after [having sex] all day by [having sex] all night.”

“So we are in the van off to the Public Disgrace shoot and not only is he about to [have sex] with me just because he had nothing else to do that night, he’ll actual [have sex] with his fans.”

When the shoot is over, everyone is jammed into the van and headed back to the Armory. Steve, who uses all his social media accounts to chat with his fans, makes contact with a woman who wants to have sex with him. She’s a forty-five-year-old African-American truck driver in a knee brace. It is now one-thirty in the morning and the fan shows up.

“We are tired and exhausted and lube is trickling out of my butt,” Rain recalls. The fan is just getting wound up. “‘Now it’s time to party!'” she announces.

“This is the highlight of her night, [but] we’re a van full of bored, tired porn stars [who] are all ready to go to bed,” Rain says, so the evening isn’t going to be extended.

Disappointment sets in and the fan caves, “Oh well.” But there remains a small problem. “‘My knee. You’ll need to give me a ride home,'” she insists.

“Fine, we’ll give her a ride home so she climbs in with the knee brace and gets to Steve and starts giving instructions [to her house]. ‘Two blocks [gurgling sound] go left [gurgling sound]’ and I’m convinced she is giving bad directions to drag out the time.”

“We get there and start pushing her out of the van and she is like ‘Would you like to meet my son?'”

No! And the lady is dropped off. Everyone is tired and armed with the same thought “‘Steve, you have got to stop with the fans, you’re killing us.'”

“Five minutes later we get a phone call that she left her purse in the van. I have to pee at this point and I’m sitting in a pool of butt lube ready to kill Steve.”

“We have to turn around, give her back her purse. . . Anyway, Steve is insatiable and that was my Public Disgrace.”

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Zen, Masochism, and Lew Rubens: Rain DeGrey, Part Two

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Venturing back to the Victorian Age and the birth of psychoanalysis, popular belief about BDSM, or S&M as it was known in those days, was fairly straightforward: practitioners were sadists and masochists wallowing in their perverted fetish to compensate for problematic childhoods. In our modern times understanding has moved light years ahead, or so we hope. Not all BDSM submissives have masochistic tendencies, nor are all tops sadists. Furthermore, BDSMers don’t believe they are deviants and their adolescent years are as normal as anyone’s, despite the bill of goods now for sale from E. L. James.

Rain DeGrey, however, does have a healthy dose of masochism. It’s “incredibly personal” to her and she’s “passionate about” it.  “I’m never more grounded or immediately in my body as when I am in a masochistic state,” Rain begins. “It’s like Zen for me, my meditation. The endless chattering voice in the back of my head shuts up. All of my self-consciousness is gone.”

Like Zen. Photo courtesy of InfernalRestraintscom

Wonder Woman empowerment.
Photo courtesy of InfernalRestraintscom

Is that subspace?

“Yes, undoubtedly. That’s why we do what we do. You’re causing your body to release adrenaline, endorphins and natural pain killing opiates. Without taking a single substance, I have hallucinated [and become] completely unselfconscious.”

According to Rain, the feelings are so intense that sometimes she reaches “a primal state” where she can’t sit up, walk, or recall the day of the week.

The bondage veteran believes that masochism is empowering. “Everyday in this society women are told they are weak and fragile,” Rain says, but for her BDSM alters that paradigm. When she is punished or disciplined in a shoot, Wonder Woman-like feelings overtake her. It’s “the most empowering thing in the world,” Rain claims, making her feel “invulnerable.” She proves to herself and anyone who wants to listen that she can take it.

“I feel like I am so strong I could topple a building. That is what I get out of masochism.”

Does pain bring on an orgasm?

“I am not the person to ask because a gentle breeze will make me cum. I usually cum in about thirty seconds and can have twenty, thirty orgasm per day. I’ve done orgasm play until I’ve cum so hard I passed out and [had to be] revived with CPR.”

Rain and Felony performing with Princess Donna. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain and Felony performing with Princess Donna.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

She elaborates. “I did an Orgasm Destruction shoot for Kink [with] Felony, who is now retired. We both came multiple times while passing out and being revived. The shoot ended when we were both puking. I don’t think a dude will ever understand what it feels like to have fifty orgasms in an hour. It’s like running a marathon.”

Though the pain factor is often muted for Rain, she’s experienced a few pain induced orgasms. She does remember one “paingasm” she experienced in an Intersec scene. “I hallucinated the White Mountains of Japan, Mount Fuji.”

Casey ready to shoot for Intersec. Photo courtesy of SexuallyBroken.com

Casey ready to shoot for Intersec.
Photo courtesy of SexuallyBroken.com

Rain is not the first performer to tell me about multiple orgasms in a BDSM shoot. Casey Calvert relates similar stories. This leads me to bring up Casey.

“Oh yeah, Casey cums easier from pain than I do. Casey is a tough puppy. Before she got in the industry and before she started doing boy-girl she was hanging out with Lew Rubens. I did a suspension and DP (double penetration) scene with her. ‘Isn’t she a cutie,’ I remarked to myself then and less than a year later she is a Spiegler girl and wrangling dicks professionally.”

The Reason I’m Sitting in this Room

Lew is highly respected in the bondage community and we take the conversation in his direction.

“Lew is actually the reason I’m sitting in this room talking to you. Lew got me into porn. It’s all his fault.” A smiling Rain is more than affectionate with her comment.

She recalls the MySpace days when networking on that stage was the backbone of social media. Lew was there. “I saw the guy and he had these incredible bondage photos.” Even though Rain was unfamiliar with Lew Rubens, she did know he worked for Kink so she messaged him.

Lew Rubens. Photo source unknown.

Lew Rubens.
Photo source unknown.

In getting his attention, Rain jokes about her assets. “Boobs are really powerful, they have gotten me far.” Lew took an interest and invited her to drop by.

“It was that easy,” Rain declares. “That is when I first got into the industry and did my first modeling gig.”

Like other girls I know, Rain is a Lew Rubens’ fan.

“I have a great respect for Lew. He is an artist. In fact, he was such an artist that is why he wasn’t able to work for Kink. He is a purist and unfortunately with Kink it becomes a sausage factory. ‘Crank out the product. We don’t have time for art. Get a shoot, get another shoot.'”

She explains that the conditions were difficult for Lew. “He is one of the most skilled riggers I have ever met and like most artists, it is hard to transition the art into paying his bills.”

Bobbi Starr's first shoot for Lew Rubens at Kink. Photo courtesy of Waterbondage.com

Lew Rubens with Bobbi Starr at Kink.
Photo courtesy of Waterbondage.com

(From my conversations with Lew, I support Rain’s assessment wholeheartedly.)

I mention Casey and the now retired Bobbi Starr as Lew enthusiasts.

“Yes, Lew started Casey, he started Bobbi. Though I never dated him, I hung out with him a lot. He started me, too. I would have probably ended up here anyway, but Lew greased the wheels.”

He is very proud of the girls he’s worked with and started in the business, I remark.

“He should be,” Rain says.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Taking the Orgasms, if You Don’t Mind: Rain DeGrey, Part One

by Rich Moreland, February 2015
Adult film models fall into two broad categories. First is the fresh face who is excited about her new-found line of work and wants to make everybody happy. A bit naïve, of course, but give her credit for enthusiasm, especially if she sticks around for a while. Next is the established veteran who realistically grasps the business and has a solid film resume around which she has built a fan base. Having paid her dues, she’s probably branded her name.

Both can be found in the LA porn world.

Rain during our interview. Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

Rain during our interview.
Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

However, there is a third performer, the bona fide fetish model who gets her kinks in Northern California’s porn theater. One such girl is San Franciscan Rain DeGrey who recently left her Kink.com roots and crossed the Bay into Oakland to join the staff at Intersec, an internet company that rivals Kink’s business model.

The transition was seamless because Rain was already familiar with Intersec’s product, having modeled for all the company’s sites: Real Time Bondage, Sexually Broken, Top Girl, Infernal Restraints, and Hard Tied.

Rain took a half hour out of her busy schedule to talk with our media team recently in Las Vegas. She mentions the Vegas AVN show is actually a recruiting trip for her.

“I’m the talent booker for Intersec interactive and here to recruit for Sexually Broken.”

Rain’s shooting history at Kink makes her one of their most popular models and she gladly reflects on her time with the company. Her familiarity with the directors landed her “a lot of shoots, maybe even more than a model in her thirties who is heavily tattooed should get,” she remembers. However, Rain is not shy. “I am an amazing performer and I love what I do,” a fact that explains all those Kink segments.

How did she get started?

The idea of sending an application to Kink came from an acquaintance at the SF Citadel (a local BDSM facility that doubles as a club and community center). Doubting that she was attractive enough for the company and overly inked to boot, Rain took a chance anyway.

A little suspension can take a nurse to new heights. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

A little suspension can take a nurse to new heights.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Kink booked her the next week.

It was “mind-blowing,” Rain declares, because now she could make money for what she was already doing for free. “I love this shit, it’s why I get up in the morning and I can make a living doing it? It was like winning the lottery.”

With a day job as a nurse, Rain never intended to enter the industry. But the phone kept ringing, so she turned in her bedpans for twisting in suspension above a basement floor.

The statuesque blonde describes her career adjustment by presenting a choice between a run-of-the-mill job (like working at a gas station) and what seduced her, summarizing it this way:

“You could be having incredible sex with a ridiculously good-looking person who is skilled at fucking. [Throw in] flattering lighting, good makeup, paperwork proving that [everyone is] STD free and a huge paycheck. . . . Hmmm, I’m going to take the orgasms, if you don’t mind.”

“And that is how I accidentally got into porn,” she concludes with a smile.

Friendly Face

Stepping into BDSM is not for every performer out there; as a result, recruiting new talent has its challenges.

Sex in bondage is “scary for some people,” Rain says. In vanilla porn a girl learns “all sorts of techniques and pivots” to back away and ease the discomfort of penetrative sex. With a bondage shoot those options disappear. “Escape,” as Rain phrases it, is minimized so that trust becomes imperative for success. The shoot can be psychologically harrowing. “You put a chick in bondage and you take that option away from her. A lot of girls don’t want to give up control.”

Throw in accelerated levels of intensity and a bondage orgasm “can be powerful,” Rain says. “We’ve had girls cry, had them get dizzy because they don’t ordinarily cum that hard.” She references “cum drunk,” the result of putting “a model in sexual subspace.”

We get “LA porn girls with the big fake tits, blonde hair and the shellac of makeup and halfway through [their shoot] you can see them shift, the pretenses drop, they not doing the LA porny fake moan, ‘it’s so good,'” Rain jokes. Honesty takes over. “It’s a beautiful transformation on-screen.”

Model Skylar Price shooting for Top Girl. Photo courtesy of TopGirl.com

Model Skylar Price shooting for Top Girl.
Photo courtesy of TopGirl.com

When models complete their booking, Intersec pays for the flight home, but some are not ready to go. “We put them in the green room and they’re like ‘Is it okay if I just sit here for an hour?'”

The company isn’t going “to boot them out of the studio,” Rain says, preferring instead that the performer “sit down and enjoy the buzz [they] just earned.” She characterizes post-shoot reactions as “naked relief.”

But not all models reach a BDSM nirvana. “Some girls love it and some girls can’t take the journey [despite being paid] a ton of cash. Not everyone is willing to walk to the other side.”

Rain explains. “We recognize what we’re asking models to do is strenuous. No one ever comes away from a shoot neutral. [We] either open their eyes and show them a whole new world and they are hooked, or they say ‘never again.’ Both responses are valid.”

A shoot can get intense. Model Jynx Maze for Sexually Broken. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

A shoot can get intense. Model Jynx Maze for Sexually Broken.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

For those who can’t make it to a shoot’s finish line, a “kill fee” is paid and the model gets something for the completed segments. Intersec covers her air fare with “no hard feelings.” But that situation is rare, Rain insists, because “our handlers are the best in the entire planet.”

In the bondage business, that is worth gold.

“I see these fussy girls come in” and I’ll think, “You’ll not be able to extract an hour of content from her.” In those cases, the crew’s creativity takes over; timing and pace can produce a workable solution. It works like this.

“Just five minutes in a position, hit her [with BDSM toys], take her out [of her predicament],” Rain explains. “Once we string [the segments] together [with even] the fussiest girls, we can usually get a shoot out of it. We won’t book them again, but very rarely does someone get sent home because we adapt the level of the shoot [to get results we want].”

Rain behind the scenes at Intersec. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

Rain behind the scenes at Intersec.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

The end product may not be up to Intersec’s standards, but accommodations are made. “We would prefer not to do the super light shoots, all we ask is that a model go as hard as she possibly can. You can see the effort. If a vanilla LA girl is giving it her all, that’s what the viewers want to see . . . her honestly trying.”

Being a talent recruiter for a BDSM internet site has its moments. Not every girl is confident about shooting a hardcore bondage scene, Rain DeGrey says, so “I am here today to put a friendly face on Sexually Broken.”

*           *           *

If interested in further information on becoming an Intersec model, click here.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Bent in Half: Part Two of an Interview with Holly Heart

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Holly Heart is a native Californian and veteran of adult film. In her early thirties, she is now a popular MILF performer working regularly for LA’s Porn Valley studios. Her fetish resume is highlighted by her one hundred plus shoots for Kink.com. Holly is one of their most sought after BDSM models.

Our interview continues.

*          *          *          *          *

Shooting as a BDSM submissive in adult film can be just another booking or an authentic experience, depending on the model. For some girls who make the transition into the real deal, psychological and emotional changes take place that can be a slow rising tide or a sudden bolt of lightning. My interviews with Kink.com submissives reveal that pathways awakened to discovery are very personal as illustrated in two earlier posts on this blog, Casey Calvert and Dylan Ryan.

Holly Heart now joins these performers, putting her own spin on her transformation.

The Milk Bucket

A self-assurance emerged after Holly’s shoot with James Mogul’s TTO.

“When I started doing live scenes like The Upper Floor [and] being in front of an audience doing what they are telling me to do, I started to get this slave confidence that I could obey, confidence that I could be prestigious, that I could do what I’m told in a timely manner.”

Inspiration lights up Holly’s eyes as she describes her transformation. Her intensity increases and she borders on proselytization, reinforcing my belief that BDSM adherents have their own faith, a kind of conversion that leads to peace and an affirmation of their minds and bodies.

“That’s when I started to really feel it,” she says. “It’s almost like the unknown is gone and now you can really be what you want to be because what was clouding you has been removed. Only a submissive in the BDSM community can really understand it [and] you have so much fun doing it.”

Holly has expanded her Kink experiences. Over “the last five years,” she declares, her life has “changed dramatically” because of them.

“It’s made me more respectful, it’s made me a kinder, more compassionate person, more understanding and I’m really grateful for that [and] for the community [and] for all the people that had the patience to teach me.”

Holly on Device Bondage. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Holly on Device Bondage.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Holly praises Matt Williams. “He was so gracious with me. He was my first Dom ever.” Her initial shoot was for Device Bondage, the Kink website Matt directed at the time. To make her experience proceed well, Matt employed Rain DeGrey be on the set for Holly’s live show.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew was I had read books about bondage and I wanted to be a slave. It enticed me, it was glorifying to me to be a slave, to be on that pedestal, just to be there and be a part of that. To be available for service is just hot and sexy! It just feels good!”

Holly dips into an amusing episode during the shoot: the crew put some hot sauce between her legs.

“I was sweaty and writhing and it was so painful! At the end of the shoot I’m thinking, ‘Oh, hot sauce on your tongue? Get some milk.’ Rain brings me two buckets of milk and I’m sitting in them during the [post-shoot] interview. That was my introduction to BDSM,” she laughs.

Years later Holly came to understand that she’s “a freaking masochist,” as she puts it. More live shoots at Kink, which she characterizes as “a really amazing experience and a really amazing journey,” reinforced that new sexual self-definition.

In it’s own way, perhaps BDSM is religious-like, certainly it’s emotional impact on those who love it is intense.

Subspace

It’s time to talk about something I like to bring up in these kinds of conversation: mindfucks.

Holly smiles broadly and tells me she has two great stories she will share.

“I was afraid of the hot sauce. In my head I knew that the sauce was never going to be there again because it was on my “no” list (like everyone in the BDSM community, professional or amateur, Kink honors a submissive’s hard limits, those things that are off the board in a shoot.)

“I was on the set with Lochai for Hogtied many years ago (Lochai has since left the company and now resides in Baltimore). He tied me up to a wall with my legs and arms spread with a bowling ball crotch harness attached to me. Then he had a zipper (cord with clothespins) on my tits and stomach.”

Lochai, whose personality is humor built on a flair for rigging that is widely respected in the community, pulls out a bottle.

“I don’t know what it is,” Holly relates, “but for some reason I thought it was the sauce. I got really scared and [in my eyes] you can see the fear. He sprays my face with it and it was baby oil!” Lochai is playing the mental dodge ball that spices up his shoots.

“He sprays my whole body and rips off the zipper. I was so thinking about the sauce that my mind was in a whole other place that I didn’t even feel the zipper!”

Holly then offers an example of subspace in a recent Sexually Broken episode for Real Time Bondage, a current Matt Williams site. She describes  being “bent in half” with arms and legs tied down. Matt and his associate Jackhammer are penetrating her mouth and vagina, “just back and forth, back and forth, no-stop simultaneously,” she says.

Bent in half. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

Bent in half.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

“I literally went into this complete moment of subspace where nothing existed. It was like a perfect moment where I only thought of that moment and my brain tuned out and my body just went completely limp. It was like I never wanted that feeling to stop. It’s an addiction.” She adds a cautionary note. “Because they are professionals,” the director and crew recognize when a girl is closing in on that psychological dreamland.

Should a submissive teeter near the edge, monitoring her emotional balance takes over. “They know that you are zoning out and you are going to pass out any second because you feel so good.” But Holly understands she is safe because the filming will stop if a dangerous turn in the road is coming up.

Incidentally, subspace often prohibits a submissve from using her safeword. Some models tell me they self-monitor during filming to avoid losing control so they will not be accidentally injured. Casey Calvert, for example, reserves subspace for her private life, preferring to maintain total awareness when working professionally.

Bear in mind, Holly Heart is a veteran BDSMer. This is not Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s a community of people who understand and appreciate their fetishes and are careful in their play. She joins the best professional submissives I’ve written about such as Madison Young, Casey Calvert, Rain DeGrey, and Dylan Ryan who are very aware of the sensitive nature of subspace.

Holly ranks the Sexually Broken shoot among her best. “It was the most amazing experience, especially being in the community now for so long.” This California girl understands she is able to put herself in that situation and, as she says, “really feel the utmost pleasure and not be afraid.”

Reading the Body

Holly and I have something in common, sports. As a former triathlete and marathoner, I bring up the “runner’s high” that causes the endurance athlete to transcend the stress of the race. Her interest sparked, Holly mentions adrenaline. “I love to run, too, and I get that runner’s high.” Like yours truly, Holly is also a weightlifter to go along with her aerobic fitness and it shows in her taut body that, by the way, serves her well in another line of Kink shoots she loves, Ultimate Surrender, girl wrestling that ends in good sex. The site is widely (and wildly) popular among Kink models and is shot before a live audience.

Before the match. The competitors: Holly, Audry Rose, Bryn Blaine, and Rain DeGrey. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Before the match. The competitors: Holly, Audrey Rose, Bryn Blaine, and Rain DeGrey.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Holly promotes the feel good aspect of working out.

“I think we need to express that to people unfamiliar with [the benefits of exercise]. You can get this natural high from your body that is actually good and its not going to harm you, its actually going to be better for your life.”

During the match the audience looks on. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

During the match the audience looks on.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

This avid sports girl then makes a quick transition to demystify BDSM. “We’re not hurting each other when we are doing corporal punishment. We know the body’s limit. We educate ourselves on [changes in skin color for blood flow] and the way a person writhes when they are getting spanked, caned, or flogged. Reading the body language, eye contact, facial expressions, that is what makes a professional dominant so good.”

Fetish education is integral to the BDSM community, Holly explains. “If we could get the world to understand that, then the world may be more open to it.”

*          *          *          *          *

Part Three of my interview with this extraordinary woman is coming next. She’ll discuss switching and learning from Kink’s Princess Donna.

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized