diff --git a/.changeset/forward-access-token-in-require-auth.md b/.changeset/forward-access-token-in-require-auth.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58115ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/forward-access-token-in-require-auth.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+"@seamless-auth/express": patch
+---
+
+Fix requireAuth dropping the access token from req.user. The middleware now
+attaches the inner access token as req.user.token, so getSeamlessUser and
+buildServiceAuthorization can forward it as the bearer credential when calling
+the auth server. Previously trusted server adapters received a "Missing bearer"
+error and every authenticated route returned 401.
diff --git a/packages/express/src/createServer.ts b/packages/express/src/createServer.ts
index 03980e0..e004e19 100644
--- a/packages/express/src/createServer.ts
+++ b/packages/express/src/createServer.ts
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ export interface SeamlessAuthUser {
   phone: string;
   iat?: number;
   exp?: number;
+  token?: string;
 }
 
 function buildProxyQueryString(queryInput: Request["query"]): string {
@@ -395,12 +396,6 @@ export function createSeamlessAuthServer(
     "/step-up/webauthn/finish",
     proxyWithIdentity("step-up/webauthn/finish", "access"),
   );
-
-  // TOTP enrollment, management, and step-up verification. All require a full
-  // access session and update server-side state only (no new session cookies),
-  // so they proxy the user's access token upstream like the step-up routes.
-  // TOTP-as-a-login-second-factor is intentionally not mounted here: the auth
-  // API does not gate login on TOTP today, so /totp/verify-login has no trigger.
   r.get("/totp/status", proxyWithIdentity("totp/status", "access", "GET"));
   r.post(
     "/totp/enroll/start",
diff --git a/packages/express/src/middleware/requireAuth.ts b/packages/express/src/middleware/requireAuth.ts
index 4ae76e1..94739ed 100644
--- a/packages/express/src/middleware/requireAuth.ts
+++ b/packages/express/src/middleware/requireAuth.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ export function requireAuth(opts: RequireAuthOptions) {
       phone: payload.phone,
       iat: payload.iat,
       exp: payload.exp,
+      token: payload.token,
     };
 
     req.user = user;
diff --git a/packages/express/tests/requireAuth.test.js b/packages/express/tests/requireAuth.test.js
index 96e6ba8..75ac4a5 100644
--- a/packages/express/tests/requireAuth.test.js
+++ b/packages/express/tests/requireAuth.test.js
@@ -31,4 +31,35 @@ describe("requireAuth (smoke)", () => {
     expect(res.status).toBe(200);
     expect(res.body.user.sub).toBe("user-123");
   });
+
+  it("forwards the inner access token as req.user.token", async () => {
+    const secret = "cookie-secret";
+    const innerAccessToken = "inner-access-jwt";
+
+    const token = jwt.sign(
+      { sub: "user-123", token: innerAccessToken },
+      secret,
+      { expiresIn: "1h" },
+    );
+
+    const app = express();
+    app.use(cookieParser());
+    app.use(
+      requireAuth({
+        cookieName: "access",
+        cookieSecret: secret,
+      }),
+    );
+
+    app.get("/protected", (req, res) => {
+      res.json({ user: req.user });
+    });
+
+    const res = await request(app)
+      .get("/protected")
+      .set("Cookie", [`access=${token}`]);
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(res.body.user.token).toBe(innerAccessToken);
+  });
 });