[ No, you don't get a response because he feels like going all out. Talking isn't limited to speech - there's a whole area of communication that is facial expression, body language, etc. Knock one, knock them all. So he remains unresponsive while she studies him, letting his head come down a little bit with her palm on the back of his neck, and then down to a normal tilt when she steps back, appraising him.
That command - that's not one she's given him before. Highly symbolic, to have a half naked man kneeling in front of you, silently. It's not really so much a matter of trust - it can't be, because he trusts her implicitly, to the point where he doesn't even remember when that was a thing that was happening, that level of trust. On the other, they're both still clearly getting something out of this bickering back and forth, and while on one hand he does want to obey and sink to the floor, on the other, he still wants to push, still wants to know what she'll do if he doesn't.
So he slowly - looking at her the whole time - slides down. To one knee. If she simply stands there, continuing to stare at him for too long, he'll fully comply, because he does want things to keep moving forward, but he's fishing for a reaction until she makes it clear she won't be giving him one. ]
as per usual
That command - that's not one she's given him before. Highly symbolic, to have a half naked man kneeling in front of you, silently. It's not really so much a matter of trust - it can't be, because he trusts her implicitly, to the point where he doesn't even remember when that was a thing that was happening, that level of trust. On the other, they're both still clearly getting something out of this bickering back and forth, and while on one hand he does want to obey and sink to the floor, on the other, he still wants to push, still wants to know what she'll do if he doesn't.
So he slowly - looking at her the whole time - slides down. To one knee. If she simply stands there, continuing to stare at him for too long, he'll fully comply, because he does want things to keep moving forward, but he's fishing for a reaction until she makes it clear she won't be giving him one. ]